Promote expanded immunization program and disease prevention

This afternoon, April 10, the Ministry of Health held a national online conference on strengthening disease prevention and control. Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Hoang Nam attended at the Quang Tri bridge.

Delegates attending the conference at Quang Tri bridge point - Photo: TL

Currently, the infectious disease situation in the world is complicated. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the vaccination rate for children has been affected in recent years. Recently, the World Health Organization has warned about the increase in the number of measles cases and the risk of measles outbreaks in many areas around the world. In some countries, cases of whooping cough and dengue fever are also on the rise.

In Vietnam, with the participation of all levels, sectors and professional agencies, the work of preventing dengue fever has achieved positive results in recent times. Infectious diseases are still basically under control. However, it is worth noting that despite the presence of vaccines, some diseases still appear sporadically and are starting to increase. According to the report of the Ministry of Health, measles cases have been recorded in many localities such as Ha Tinh, Son La, Ca Mau, Binh Thuan, Thanh Hoa... Whooping cough has now emerged in Nghe An, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City...

Some endemic diseases still have high incidence rates, such as hand, foot and mouth disease, which increased 2.1 times compared to the same period in 2023. Dengue fever still has a high number of cases every year, with hundreds of thousands of cases, including dozens of deaths. Some deaths due to influenza A/H5N1 and A/H9N2 have also been recorded.

According to the Ministry of Health, during the current transitional season, the unusual weather changes create favorable conditions for pathogens to develop, the risk of invasion and spread of pathogens is always latent, especially in the context of increased demand for trade and tourism. The risk of increased infectious diseases is very high, unpredictable, and can break out into large epidemics. Therefore, strengthening disease prevention is extremely necessary.

At the conference, delegates informed about the epidemic situation and difficulties and challenges in disease prevention, thereby providing lessons and solutions to proactively control the epidemic, protect people's health, and ensure national health security.

Some proposed solutions are: Mobilizing the participation of departments, branches, unions, and socio-political organizations in the work of preventing and fighting infectious diseases; enhancing the effectiveness of information and communication to recommend and guide people to implement personal disease prevention measures and change their behavior to improve their health and prevent diseases; effectively and substantially implementing professional measures on disease prevention...

Speaking at the conference, Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan affirmed that what is needed now is more drastic and proactive solutions to promote the expanded vaccination program and disease prevention work.

In the immediate future, it is recommended that the health departments of provinces and cities proactively advise the Provincial People's Committee to deploy the plan to prevent and control infectious diseases in 2024; closely monitor the epidemic situation in the area; increase catch-up and sweep vaccinations, link disease surveillance with prevention and treatment; review and evaluate vaccination subjects, promptly propose the number of missing vaccines; report to the Provincial and City People's Committees to arrange local budget sources for preventive medicine activities; promote the role and responsibility of leaders in disease prevention and control...

Tay Long

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