Associate Professor Dr. Tran Thi Giang Huong (second from right) in a meeting with French authorities. (Photo: VNA) The French authorities spoke highly of Vietnam’s achievementin the fight against COVID-19, its proactive role in the multilateral organisations,as well as the initiative to organise the International Day for EpidemicPreparedness (December 27).
Hailing Vietnam’s nomination for the position, they affirmed they willcontinue coordination with Vietnam at the multilateral forums and internationalorganisations to promote the potential of each nation in the fields of theirstrengths, especially public health care.
Earlier, Vietnamese Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan officially sent aletter to the WHO Director General, nominating Huong for the position. This isthe first time Vietnam has had a candidate for this important position at theWHO.
Huong, born in 1968, is an expert in public health and global health with morethan 32 years of experience, holding many important positions in the healthsector such as Director of the Health Ministry’s International CooperationDepartment, head of ASEAN Senior Officials' Meeting on Health Development(SOMHD) in the 2014-2016 term, Chair of APEC Health Working Group (2011-2012and 2017-2018), Alternate Member of the WHO Executive Board, World HealthAssembly (2016-2019). From July 2019 to now, Huong is Director of the DiseaseControl Programmes of the WHO Regional Office for the WesternPacific.
The doctor has made important and effective contributions to the cause ofpublic health care and international integration of Vietnam’s health sector,enhancing the role and position of the health sector in the region and in theworld.
As Director of the Disease Control Programmes of the WHO Regional Officefor the Western Pacific, Huong has made important contributions to theprevention and control of COVID-19, infectious and non-communicable diseases,the improvement of mental health and the elimination of malaria in the GreaterMekong Subregion and neglected tropical diseases. She also contributed to theimplementation of the expanded immunisation programme and many other publichealth programmes.
According to WHO regulations, the candidates will conduct consultationswith member states and then secret voting will be held to nominate the nextRegional Director in a closed meeting during the 74th session of the WHORegional Committee for the Western Pacific scheduled for October 16-20 thisyear in Manila, the Philippines.
Huong is one of the five candidates for the posistion. The others are Dr Song Li, nominated by China;Dr Susan Mercado from the Philippines; Dr Jimmie Rodgers, proposed bySolomon Islands; and Saia Ma’u Piukala from Tonga./.
VNA
