Climate change also promotes mosquito breeding and increases mosquito-borne infectious diseases. Vietnam is a tropical country with a hot and humid climate and is located in an area with high prevalence of mosquito-borne diseases.

According to the forecast of the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, the El Nino phenomenon is likely to occur in the second half of 2023. Currently, the weather is entering the rainy season, creating favorable conditions for disease-carrying mosquitoes to thrive. In order to proactively prevent and control the epidemic, not allowing the epidemic to break out and spread, the Ministry of Health has issued Official Dispatch No. 4295/BYT-DP requesting the People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities to direct the implementation of a number of epidemic prevention and control contents in the area.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Health proposed that the People's Committees of provinces and cities assign the People's Committees at all levels to directly direct and more strongly implement activities to eradicate mosquito larvae in the area in July 2023. At the same time, the Ministry of Health assigned specific responsibilities to authorities at all levels to direct and mobilize departments, branches, socio-political organizations to coordinate with the health sector to deploy campaigns to eradicate mosquito larvae, ensuring that all households in epidemic and at-risk areas must have their tanks, water containers, utensils, waste, and mosquito breeding sites inspected and monitored to have a form of mosquito larvae eradication.

Dengue fever patients receive treatment at a medical facility. Photo: VNA

The Ministry of Health also requested the People's Committees of provinces and cities to assign the health sector to closely monitor and thoroughly handle local outbreaks of infectious diseases; ensuring that 100% of outbreaks are detected and handled promptly in accordance with instructions.

Localities review and organize vaccination against Japanese encephalitis for children of vaccination age in the form of regular vaccination with high rate, complete, on schedule, safe and effective. Medical examination and treatment facilities organize well the admission and treatment of patients, minimize deaths, especially at private medical examination and treatment facilities; avoid the situation where patients do not receive timely consultation, emergency care, treatment and referral; have plans to allocate treatment routes, support lower levels, avoid hospital overload; ensure enough medicine, equipment, medical supplies to serve medical examination and treatment.

The People's Committees of provinces and cities direct the Department of Information and Communications, mass media agencies to coordinate with the health sector to strengthen the implementation of epidemic prevention and control propaganda, diversify communication activities so that people understand and proactively implement disease prevention and control measures (mosquito killing measures, using mosquito nets, and preventing mosquito bites); communicate about the signs of dengue fever and mosquito-borne diseases; instruct people when they get sick not to self-treat at home, but to go immediately to medical facilities for timely examination and treatment. The People's Committees of provinces and cities assign functional units to organize interdisciplinary inspection teams to inspect and supervise the implementation of the instructions of the Ministry of Health and the People's Committees of provinces and cities.

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Huong Giang