Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN addresses the event (Photo: VNA)New York
(VNA) – Vietnam has been aware of the significance of the early epidemic preparedness and
response through the strengthening of the health care
system from the central to local levels, Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang, Permanent
Representative of Vietnam to the UN has affirmed.
Giang was addressing
the launching ceremony of the World Disasters Report
2022, themed “Trust, equality and local action – Lessons from the COVID-19
pandemic to avert the next ” in New York on April 19.
The report was jointly introduced by the
Vietnamese and Australian Permanent Missions to the UN, and the International
Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
The ambassador said
that at UN forums, Vietnam pushed for the UN General Assembly to choose
December 27 every year as the International Day of Epidemic Preparedness,
thereby enhancing the international community’s readiness to respond early and
fully to possible future epidemics.
Together with
Australia and other countries, Vietnam has persuaded the to
adopt a resolution on holding a high-level meeting on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response and will continue to actively participate in the
preparation process for the meeting.
Ambassador Giang held
that the IFRC’s recommendations are worth considering, which can contribute to
strengthening the global health structure to better respond to future health
risks. People need to be at the centre of policies on epidemic preparedness and response and play an important role in implementing these
policies, he said, adding that handling fake news and providing timely and
accurate information to the public about epidemics and government efforts are
also important to this effort.
The Vietnamese representative said that the international community should
focus on dealing with inequality in access to vaccines, diagnosis and treatment
of diseases.
Vietnam appreciates
the support of the UN and international partners during the COVID-19 pandemic, underlining
the need to provide developing countries with easier access to advanced medical
technology through technology transfer.
Vietnam believes that
strengthening national health capacity at the grassroots level will play a core
role in responding to future epidemics, which can be achieved through increased
investment in infrastructure, equipment and personnel training. Policies to
ensure socio-economic development, social security and people’s lives also
effectively support epidemic prevention and control efforts, he added.
The underscores that the world’s preparedness ahead
of the COVID-19 was inadequate, underlining the need to build people’s
confidence in the ability to respond to disasters, address inequalities in
access to medicines and health care among countries as well as different
regions within a country, and strengthen capacity and role of local communities
in handling health challenges.
It noted that the coronavirus pandemic has
been the biggest disaster in living memory, by almost any measure. Over 6.5
million people are confirmed to have died in less than 3 years – or about 1 in
1,000 people by the most conservative estimates – an order of magnitude larger
than that of any recorded earthquake, drought or hurricane.
Participants at the
event hailed the efforts of Vietnam, Australia and the IFRC, holding that
recommendations in the report are helpful for UN member states in engaging in
and promoting major process this year, especially the mid-term review of the
Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the UN
General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Pandemic
Prevention, Preparedness and Response./.
Source: VietnamPlus
