US offers to help fight emerging epidemics

Source: VietNam Feeds


US Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius has said her country is committed to working with Vietnam to combat emerging epidemics, especially infectious diseases, and to promote the transfer of technology to fight HIV/AIDS.





Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung receives US Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius in Hanoi




Received by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in Ha Noi yesterday, Sebelius stressed that the US and Vietnamese health sectors enjoyed close collaboration through the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, especially in the fight against HIV/AIDS and emerging pandemics like SARS and avian flu.

Dung said he highly valued the outcomes of talks between Sebelius and Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien as well as agreements reached during Sebelius' visit. Particularly, the agreement on health and medical science signed between the two Governments would help cement co-operation between the two countries.


He said he hoped the two ministries would work closely together to implement the agreement and assist the Vietnamese health sector in human-resources training.


Dung suggested the US continue helping Viet Nam with funding and expertise to fight HIV/AIDS as well as control the outbreak of avian influenza.


Earlier yesterday, the Vietnamese Health Ministry and the US Department for Health and Human Services reached an agreement on health and medical science co-operation.


Under the deal signed by Tien and Sebelius, the two sides will co-operate in the fields of medical science and training.


Accordingly, the US will help Vietnam enhance the capacity of staff responsible for controlling the quality of drugs. New methods and techniques will be transferred to the Vietnamese side.


The two sides will work together to quickly discover and prevent fake and low-quality drugs. They also agreed to join hands in establishing medical standards and improving the quality of laboratories and setting up biological safety labs.

Tien and Sebelius discussed priorities for co-operation, including preventive medicine, HIV/AIDS prevention and global health security.


In 1979, Viet Nam and the US first began health and medical co-operation through non-governmental organisations. Since the two countries normalised diplomatic ties in 1995, the two sides have carried out health co-operation in various sectors, including HIV/AIDS prevention and medical staff training.


In July 2006, the first agreement on health and medical science co-operation between Viet Nam and the US was signed, focusing on fighting HIV/AIDS, enhancing the capacity of those working in the fields of food safety and hygiene, and pharmacy.


The Health Department of HCM City last Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Welfare and Health Bureau of the South Korean city of Busan on an exchange of human resources and technology transfer in the medical sector.


Under the five-year document, the two cities will co-operate with and support each other in organising conferences, seminars and exhibitions in the medical field.





Đăng ký: VietNam News

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