World Health Organisation (WHO) representative in Vietnam Kidong Park (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – It appears thatVietnam has been able to put the recent COVID-19 outbreaks under control, whichstarted in the central city of Da Nang in late July, World Health Organisation(WHO) representative in Vietnam Kidong Park has said.
In a recent interview with the Vietnam NewsAgency, he named the factors that have contributed to this result.
The first is the rapid activation of theresponse system. After detecting the first case, Vietnam quickly activated itsrapid response systems nationwide. Therefore, the country was able to detect andisolate suspected cases and those having close contact with travellersreturning from pandemic-hit areas quickly, curbing the further spread of theSARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19.
The health system capacity on the groundwas rapidly scaled up. The Vietnamese Government promptly deployed aspecialised team of experts in outbreak investigation, laboratory and clinicalmanagement. With this move, the country was able to provide high quality publichealth and clinical care to patients and minimise the loss of lives.
Park also spoke highly of Vietnam’scontinued transparent information sharing and communications of risk messages.Accordingly, most people closely complied with guidelines by healthauthorities, attributable to contain the spread of the virus.
The Government’s strong leadership at alllevels and high-level commitment have been clearly demonstrated since the startof the outbreak, he noted. In the same way, Vietnamese people have been doingtheir part to support the Government in protecting themselves and their lovedone.
The successful control over the COVID-19outbreak in Vietnam so far reflects these collective efforts, the WHO officialaffirmed.
Regarding the development of vaccines inVietnam, he said WHO welcomes all vaccine development programmes around theworld, including Vietnam.
As of September 8, there had been 179COVID-19 candidate vaccines under development, including those in Vietnam. Ofwhich, 34 are at clinical evaluation stage, he said.
WHO is working with partners across theworld to facilitate research and development, approval, mass production and equitabledistribution of effective and safe vaccines.
He said that Vietnam can gain access to COVID-19vaccine via internationally coordinated aid through COVAX facility mechanismco-led by WHO, GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance and the Coalition for EpidemicPreparedness Innovations (CEPI); procurement through a bilateral deal; or itsown development.
He emphasised that the recent COVID-19outbreaks remind people that COVID-19 is far from over and everyone shouldremain vigilant.
WHO is working with the Ministry of Healthto promote “safe coexistent with COVID-19”, which aims to achieve dual goals ofoutbreak management and economic recovery.
The WHO official advised people to continueclosely following heath guidelines, such as practicing hand hygiene and keepingaway from crowded places with many people./.
