Dr. Kidong Park, WHO Representative in Vietnam (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The World Health Organisation (WHO) will continue to work
with the Government of Vietnam to plan for and transition towards endemic
COVID-19 and learning to ‘live safely with the virus’ over the long term, even
when there are new surges in the future, Dr. , in Vietnam has
affirmed.
This includes a focus on protecting the vulnerable and
avoiding the ‘red line’, where health services get overwhelmed, Park told the
Vietnam News Agency (VNA).
“Although we may not eradicate
the virus and it would be difficult to predict future scenarios of virus mutation,
we now know how to save lives and the adverse social and economic impacts,”
according to the WHO Representative.
“As we transition safe and
flexible adaptation to COVID-19, it is critical that we continue our strong
public health response through vaccination together with calibrated public
health and social measures,” he continued.
Park said WHO commends the Vietnamese Government for the hard work and
relentless efforts to suppress the COVID-19 outbreaks with the whole-of-society
approach.
He highlighted that Vietnam’s
pandemic response strategy is anchored on a very strong political commitment
from the highest level of the Government. It has a robust surveillance and
public health emergency response system; dedicated and highly skilled health
care workers both at prevention and clinical management side, and the
Vietnamese people cooperated with the implementation of the public and social
measures.
WHO also expresses its admiration for the persistent commitment from
localities through the excellent work of community COVID-19 teams; and Vietnamese
people, for doing their share in fighting the virus with personal protection
through consistent practice of 5K and getting themselves vaccinated when it was
their turn.
Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)Regarding WHO’s assistance to Vietnam in the pandemic combat, Park
said the
organisation has been working closely with the Vietnamese Government even
before the pandemic to prepare for any public health emergency.
Since
the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, WHO has been providing technical,
operational and logistical support to the response.
“We
will continue to do so and keep providing the most updated scientific evidence
to support the Government in their response decision-making processes,” he
pledged.
WHO’s
support focuses on strengthening capacity across technical areas including
surveillance, risk assessment, outbreak investigation and response,
communication, laboratory (including provision of test kits and supplies).
WHO
continues supporting the Vietnamese Ministry of Health to review and update the
technical guidelines based on the latest evidence, such as diagnosis and
treatment for COVID-19, infection prevention and control of , how to
ensure safety of health workers, and ICU care of COVID-19, among others.
“We
have also deployed medical equipment and supplies, especially for hotspot
provinces,” he said.
As a
co-lead of the COVAX Facility, , at the global level, provides technical
recommendation on vaccination by convening the Strategic Advisory Group of
Expert on Immunization (SAGE); assesses efficacy, safety and quality of vaccine
products through WHO Emergency Use Listing (EUL) procedure; and advocates for
equitable access to vaccine based on science-based prioritization.
WHO recommends for Vietnam to prepare for Omicron,
Park said, noting that the country should work to enhance surveillance
including gene sequencing of circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants, achieve high
COVID-19 vaccination coverage in all eligible populations in combination with
5K measures, continue to increase public health and medical capacities with
well-coordinated patient referral system from primary care to intensive care
services to manage an increase in cases, and continue to provide correct information
in timely and transparent manner to the public so people make informed
decisions to protect themselves and their family./.
Source: VietnamPlus
