Prevent disease early and from afar

On December 27, in Hanoi, the Ministry of Health held a rally to respond to the International Day for Epidemic Prevention and Control in 2023 with the message: "The whole people and the whole society participate in disease prevention and control".

Toàn dân phòng bệnh từ sớm, từ xa - kim chỉ nam giúp hạn chế dịch bệnh bùng phát

Overview of the rally in response to the International Epidemic Prevention Day 2023, on the morning of December 27, in Hanoi. (Photo: Tuan Viet)

The event was attended by representatives of leaders of departments, ministries, branches, localities, representatives of local authorities and international agencies and organizations in Vietnam.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Lien Huong emphasized that the Ministry of Health calls on all people and the community to raise awareness of disease prevention and improve health; regularly and actively participate in epidemic prevention and control activities and requests sectors and localities to coordinate, direct local authorities at all levels and mobilize the whole society, political organizations and unions to participate in epidemic prevention and control work to proactively prevent diseases early and from a distance, limit disease outbreaks, and always be ready to respond to pandemics and epidemic emergencies in the future.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Lien Huong speaks at the ceremony. (Photo: Tuan Viet)

The recent work of preventing and fighting the Covid-19 epidemic has drawn many extremely valuable lessons in directing and operating the socio-economy, especially for the work of caring for and protecting people's health in general and the work of preventing and fighting the epidemic in particular.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Lien Huong affirmed that in order to prevent diseases early and from a distance, to limit disease outbreaks and to be proactive and prepared to respond to pandemics or future epidemic emergencies, the Ministry of Health will focus on organizing and implementing tasks and solutions under the direction of the Central Government, the National Assembly, the Government and the Prime Minister, including implementing Directive 25-CT/TW dated October 25, 2023 of the Secretariat; Resolution 99/2023/QH15 of the National Assembly and Resolution No. 218/NQ-CP dated December 18, 2023; at the same time, continuing to proactively promote access to global health security in disease prevention and control to inform and share experiences through bilateral and multilateral cooperation mechanisms on the basis of inter-sectoral and multi-sectoral coordination, demonstrating Vietnam's sense of responsibility, together with the international community, in responding to the disease.

Hưởng ứng ngày quốc tế phòng chống dịch bệnh

Deputy Foreign Minister Do Hung Viet speaks at the event. (Photo: Tuan Viet)

Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Foreign Minister Do Hung Viet affirmed that the activities to celebrate the International Day for Epidemic Prevention on a global scale are extremely important, reminding people of the impacts that the epidemic has caused and can cause. From there, all people are clearly aware of the importance of disease prevention, raising awareness, exchanging scientific knowledge and information, sharing experiences and good practices to educate and propagate about disease prevention and response.

At the same time, commemorative activities will also help us improve our readiness to respond more quickly, effectively and appropriately to any epidemic that may occur. In particular, it is necessary to strengthen the effectiveness of the public health system.

Along with that, the activities to celebrate the International Day for Epidemic Preparedness also reaffirm the importance of multilateralism, international cooperation, international solidarity among all individuals, communities, countries as well as regional and international organizations in all stages of disease management.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Lien Huong and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet and delegates pressed the button to respond to the International Day of Epidemic Preparedness 2023. (Photo: Tuan Viet)

On December 7, 2020, the United Nations General Assembly (UN) adopted Resolution A/RES/75/27 designating December 27 as the International Day for Epidemic Preparedness. This is the first resolution of the UN General Assembly in the health sector proposed by Vietnam. The Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Health to proactively organize and mobilize domestic and foreign organizations and individuals to organize activities to celebrate the annual International Day for Epidemic Preparedness.

Based on lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Health has proposed the theme for the International Day for Epidemic Prevention and Control in 2023 as "All people and all society participate in disease prevention and control".

On the occasion of the International Day of Epidemic Preparedness 2023, the UN Secretary-General issued a message in response: "From the lessons of the Covid-19 pandemic, let's act together for a healthier, more equal world".

Communication messages in response to the International Day for Epidemic Prevention and Control 2023 with the theme "All people and society participate in disease prevention and control", developed by the Ministry of Health, include:

(1) The whole people and the whole society participate in disease prevention and control;

(2) Do not be subjective, negligent, or lose vigilance;

(3) Proactively prevent disease early, from a distance, from the grassroots level;

(4) Prevent and fight epidemics to protect the health of yourself, your family and the community;

(5) Regularly wash hands and practice personal hygiene to prevent and control epidemics;

(6) Eat cooked food, drink boiled water, and practice food safety to prevent and fight epidemics;

(7) Regularly practice personal hygiene, environmental hygiene, and housing hygiene to prevent the growth of pathogens;

(8) Vaccination is an effective measure to proactively prevent and control epidemics;

(9) Practice safe sex to prevent sexually transmitted diseases;

(10) Practice a scientific lifestyle and adequate nutrition to increase resistance;

(11) Do not come into contact with sick or dead animals and do not use unsafe food;

(12) Preventing winter-spring diseases: keep the body warm; exercise and play sports; improve physical condition;