Vietnam's response to Covid-19 has become a model

Resolute and effective efforts to repel the pandemic

Representing international organizations speaking at the online conference summarizing the work of preventing and controlling the Covid-19 pandemic with localities organized by the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control on October 29, Dr. Angela Pratt - Chief Representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Vietnam congratulated Vietnam's very drastic and effective response efforts to repel the Covid-19 pandemic.

Vietnam has controlled the number of deaths and new cases thanks to the timely and effective implementation of a series of social and public health measures.

According to Dr. Angela Pratt, after Vietnam had access to the Covid-19 vaccine, it launched an emergency vaccine coverage campaign, including efforts to make the vaccine accessible to everyone in the country.

WHO is proud to support these efforts, along with partners like UNICEF. This vaccine rollout has paved the way for reopening.

"Vietnam also has the strongest economic recovery in the region. Vietnam's response to Covid-19 has become a reference model for many countries in many aspects," the WHO Representative in Vietnam emphasized.

Event - Vietnam's response to Covid-19 has become a model — Dr. Angela Pratt - WHO Representative in Vietnam congratulated Vietnam's very drastic and effective response efforts (Photo: VGP).

At the same time, she reiterated some of the most outstanding points in Vietnam's response to Covid-19: The ability to detect infections early, investigate, trace and respond very quickly; the effective combination of border closures, quarantines and blockades; a team of dedicated and highly qualified medical staff with a patriotic spirit; efforts to obtain vaccines and deploy a rapid vaccination campaign; the enthusiastic participation of the whole society in the response; most importantly, the leadership role of the Government and the National Steering Committee as well as the Steering Committees at the grassroots level.

"On behalf of WHO, I would like to express my appreciation to the Government of Vietnam, including the Ministry of Health, as well as health workers, businesses, communities and partners," said the WHO Representative in Vietnam.

On May 10, 2023, WHO declared an end to the public health emergency due to the Covid-19 epidemic, and Vietnam also moved Covid-19 from group A infectious disease to group B.

6 areas WHO recommends

However, according to Dr. Angela Pratt, we still cannot be completely assured, Covid-19 continues to spread and new strains appear, and there are still outbreaks of infection.

Therefore, Dr. Angela Pratt mentioned 6 areas that WHO recommends to focus on in the coming time:

First, Covid-19 has exposed the fragility and inequality in the global drug and vaccine supply chain, as Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh mentioned in his opening remarks.

For more vulnerable countries like Vietnam, we need to ensure ready, timely and reliable supply of medicines, vaccines and diagnostic equipment, including domestic production, including technology transfer for MRA vaccines.

Second, the ability of any country to detect an outbreak early will determine its ability to respond globally. We need to ensure effective and sustainable surveillance for Covid-19 and other respiratory pathogens so that we can track further variants.

Third, we need to integrate Covid-19 vaccination into the routine immunization system, focusing on the highest risk groups, in line with recent expert recommendations.

Next, it is necessary to maintain a system of information exchange and close connection with the community. This is extremely important to prevent misinformation as some delegates pointed out today, and it is necessary to equip all people with the necessary knowledge to protect themselves and their families.

Build an efficient and transparent health system. This is essential for responding to health emergencies.

Event - Vietnam's response to Covid-19 has become a model (Figure 2). — It is necessary to integrate Covid-19 vaccination into the routine immunization system (Photo: Huu Thang).

"All of this requires continued strong government leadership - a key element to ensure we apply the lessons learned from the Covid-19 response and improve our response capacity in the future. Vietnam can rest assured that WHO will always be with Vietnam in all areas," Dr. Angela Pratt emphasized.

At the global level, WHO member states are negotiating a new agreement to prepare for a pandemic. According to Dr. Angela Pratt, WHO encourages Vietnam to continue to contribute to the global discussion, drawing on its experience in repelling Covid-19.

At the regional level, member states also adopted a new Asia Pacific Health Security Framework to guide collective action across the region.

At the national level, the WHO Office in Hanoi will continue to work with the Ministry of Health and relevant partners to support Vietnam, including reviewing and updating the pandemic response plan for the Government to approve on the basis of the national pandemic forum. "This is the right time for us to strengthen our national, regional and global health systems in the future. WHO will always accompany Vietnam now and in the future in the spirit of cooperation for a safer and healthier Vietnam," said Dr. Angela Pratt .

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