Prime Minister requests to deploy measles vaccination campaign

The Prime Minister requested to launch a nationwide measles vaccination campaign in March 2025.

Medical news March 16: Prime Minister requests to deploy measles vaccination campaign

The Prime Minister requested to launch a nationwide measles vaccination campaign in March 2025.

Prime Minister requests to deploy nationwide measles vaccination campaign in March

Faced with the complicated developments of measles and its increasing trend in many localities, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh signed Official Dispatch No. 23/CD-TTg, requesting to accelerate the progress of measles vaccination nationwide in March 2025. The goal of the vaccination campaign is to urgently control the epidemic, preventing it from spreading and causing widespread outbreaks.

Through the implementation of the measles vaccination campaign, the Prime Minister hopes to control the measles epidemic and protect the health of all people, especially children, who are most vulnerable to this disease.

The Prime Minister's dispatch requests the Ministry of Health and agencies and localities to continue to strictly implement the instructions on measles prevention and control. In particular, the Minister of Health needs to direct localities to accelerate the implementation of the measles vaccination campaign, ensuring the campaign ends no later than March 31, 2025.

Localities must ensure adequate supply of measles vaccines and timely vaccination, avoiding vaccine shortages as before. In addition, the Ministry of Health also requires medical facilities to strictly implement the admission and treatment of patients with measles and suspected measles rash fever according to the Ministry of Health's instructions.

Chairmen of People's Committees of provinces and cities must urgently assess the measles epidemic situation in their localities and organize measles vaccination campaigns according to the instructions of the Ministry of Health.

It is necessary to ensure sufficient human resources, funding, supplies, equipment and vaccines to complete the vaccination campaign in March 2025. At the same time, localities need to organize catch-up vaccinations for those who have not been vaccinated or have not been fully vaccinated. Vaccination methods also need to be flexible and suitable to the characteristics of each region.

The Prime Minister requested relevant agencies, especially authorities at all levels, to step up communication work on measles prevention, especially in remote, border and island areas. Communication campaigns should call on people to fully vaccinate their children on schedule, helping to raise public awareness of the importance of measles vaccines.

The Minister of Education and Training needs to direct educational institutions to implement measures to prevent and control measles in schools, monitor students' health and immediately notify medical facilities when detecting suspected measles cases for timely isolation and treatment. In addition, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and press agencies should increase information and propaganda about the epidemic situation, while preventing and handling false information about measles.

Measles is one of the diseases that can spread rapidly in the community and can cause serious complications if not controlled promptly.

Inadequate immunization and vaccine shortages in some areas have led to a recent increase in measles cases. Implementing a measles vaccination campaign is an important measure to prevent the spread of the disease and protect public health.

According to the Prime Minister, localities need to coordinate closely with the health sector to ensure the vaccination campaign is effective and prevent the disease from spreading. Authorities at all levels also need to do a good job of monitoring and managing vaccination subjects, ensuring that no subjects are left out, especially in high-risk areas.

Wet season: Warning of the risk of rapid disease spread

The prolonged humid weather in recent days has not only caused discomfort but also created favorable conditions for the development and spread of many types of viruses, especially infectious diseases such as hand, foot and mouth disease, whooping cough, RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) and influenza.

Patient HTV, only 2 months old, is currently being treated at the National Children's Hospital after contracting whooping cough and pneumococcal co-infection.

The baby's mother shared that her child's cough was so severe that he was coughing so hard that his body tensed up, his face turned red, his lips turned purple, and he had difficulty breathing. During the first few days of hospitalization, the doctor had to give him oxygen to help him breathe.

Doctor Le Thi Yen from the Center for Tropical Diseases, National Children's Hospital said that whooping cough is on the rise, especially in children under 1 year old.

If not detected and treated promptly, whooping cough can lead to serious complications such as severe pneumonia, respiratory failure, or even death.

Along with whooping cough, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is also causing an increase in hospitalizations. At Hanoi Children's Hospital, the number of children with RSV accounts for 50% of inpatients.

Children under 2 years old, especially those with underlying medical conditions such as congenital heart disease or malnutrition, are susceptible to serious complications when contracting this disease, with symptoms such as bronchiolitis, wheezing, spasms, and even pneumonia requiring oxygen.

Besides whooping cough and RSV, hand, foot and mouth disease is also showing signs of increasing in Hanoi and many other provinces.

According to a report from the Hanoi Center for Disease Control (CDC), the number of hand, foot and mouth disease cases has increased sharply from 10-20 cases/week at the end of 2024 to 30-50 cases/week in March 2025.

Since the beginning of 2025, Hanoi has recorded 218 cases, an increase of nearly 1.5 times compared to the same period in 2024. Hand, foot and mouth disease mainly occurs in children and can spread rapidly. If not detected and treated promptly, it can cause serious complications.

Flu is also on the rise during the wet season, especially in people with underlying medical conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Doctor Tran Thi Kim Anh, Ha Dong General Hospital, said that the Tropical Diseases Department is currently treating many patients with influenza A, including severe cases that require oxygen due to pneumonia.

Doctors warn that the flu can cause serious complications, especially pneumonia, bacterial superinfection, respiratory failure, and cardiovascular problems. The elderly and people with underlying medical conditions need to be especially careful and get a flu shot every year.

With the increase in infectious diseases during the wet season, experts recommend that people proactively take measures to prevent flu vaccination: This is the most effective measure to reduce the risk of flu and dangerous complications.

Doctors recommend that people, especially the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions, get a flu shot every year to protect their health.

The Ministry of Health recommends that people take the following preventive measures to minimize the risk of seasonal flu:

Get a seasonal flu vaccine: This is the most effective way to protect yourself from the flu. Doctors also warn that many people with the flu are often subjective, thinking it is just a mild illness and do not seek medical attention early, which can lead to dangerous complications.

Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue, handkerchief, or sleeve when coughing or sneezing to reduce the spread of droplets. Wear a mask when going out, especially in crowded places and on public transportation. Avoid unnecessary contact with people who have or may have influenza.

Clean hands: To prevent hand, foot and mouth disease and other infectious diseases, wash your hands often with soap, especially before eating and after using the toilet.

Take your child to the doctor early when there are signs of illness: If your child shows signs of cough, fever, or difficulty breathing, parents need to take their child to the doctor promptly to detect and treat diseases such as whooping cough, RSV, or flu.

Limit contact with sick people: Keep your distance from people with respiratory symptoms to reduce the risk of spreading the disease.

Maintain a healthy lifestyle: Eat a nutritious diet, strengthen your immune system and exercise regularly.

When experiencing symptoms such as cough, fever, runny nose, headache, fatigue, people should not self-test or buy medicine to treat at home but should contact a medical facility for timely advice and treatment.

More than 90% of the Vietnamese population has dental problems.

According to information from Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Cao Binh, Director of the Central Hospital of Odonto-Stomatology (Hanoi), President of the Vietnam Odonto-Stomatology Association, oral problems such as tooth decay, gingivitis, tooth loss, precancerous lesions of the oral and maxillofacial regions and maxillofacial trauma are still very common in Vietnam. These problems greatly affect public health, especially the quality of life of the people.

According to the results of the 3rd National Oral Health Survey in 2019, more than 90% of the Vietnamese population has dental problems, and the rate of these oral diseases is high in all ages. Of which, about 86% of children aged 6-8 have tooth decay, with each child having an average of 6.21 decayed teeth. Notably, more than 60% of adults have problems with gingivitis and periodontitis, and more than 79% of the elderly have lost teeth.

According to Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Cao Binh, the main cause of dental problems is lack of awareness about dental care. Most people do not have the habit of proper oral hygiene, causing plaque and bacteria to accumulate, damaging teeth. An unreasonable diet, consuming a lot of sweets, carbonated drinks and sugary foods also increases the risk of tooth decay.

In addition, access to oral health care services remains limited, especially in rural and mountainous areas where people have difficulty accessing quality health services.

Without proper dental care, people are susceptible to diseases such as tooth decay, periodontitis, tooth loss, and maxillofacial infections. These diseases not only affect overall health but also create a burden of high treatment costs.

To improve this situation, the Vietnamese Dentistry sector is implementing the Project to Improve the capacity for dental examination and treatment and prevent oral diseases in the community for the period 2021-2030 (Project 5628, Ministry of Health). The goal of the project is to reduce the rate of tooth decay and gingivitis in children and reduce the rate of tooth loss in the elderly through communication activities to raise awareness, training, examination and prevention of oral diseases.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Cao Binh said that within the framework of the project, the Department of Dentistry has focused on implementing communication campaigns via television, social networks and digital technology applications to educate about oral hygiene, especially in schools. Integrating knowledge about oral care into the general education program and providing instructions on oral care for students, parents and community health workers is also an important part of the project.

In addition, improving the dental service system through expanding public and private clinics, especially in rural areas, is also one of the proposed solutions. Including regular dental check-ups in the health insurance program and supporting dental treatment costs for low-income people are also necessary actions.

Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Cao Binh also emphasized the promotion of communication on oral care and prevention based on information technology and artificial intelligence. The model of community oral health care through phone applications, helping to detect tooth decay, gingivitis and educating about oral care through social platforms such as Tiktok, Facebook, Youtube... is being widely deployed.

In addition, cooperation between public and private health facilities and mobilizing resources from private dental clinics to implement dental examination and care programs for students is a notable solution.

Oral health plays an important role in overall health and quality of life. Changing habits, raising awareness and improving oral care services will help reduce dental problems and improve people's quality of life. Therefore, protecting oral health is not only the responsibility of the health sector, but also the task of each individual and the community. "Good teeth, healthy spirit".

Source: https://baodautu.vn/tin-moi-y-te-ngay-163-thu-tuong-yeu-cau-trien-khai-chien-dich-tiem-vac-xin-phong-chong-benh-soi-d254538.html