Vietnam-US Health Cooperation Strengthened

9:32:55 AM | 11/14/2024

On October 30, the US Embassy in Vietnam and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC) hosted a roundtable on advancements in healthcare and wellbeing for the Vietnamese people. The event featured CDC Country Director Eric Dziuban.

US CDC Country Director Eric Dziuban addresses the roundtable

The roundtable addressed Vietnam's response to disease outbreak risks and public health emergencies over the past five years, focusing on experience exchange, knowledge sharing and enhancing the readiness of the health system.

“Health has always been one of the priority areas in bilateral cooperation. When there were no effective HIV treatments, Vietnam and the US actively cooperated to support people with health problems. Then, when there was a series of H5N1 cases in 2005 or more recently during the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam and the US quickly coordinated to work out timely and effective response plans,” said Eric Dziuban.

As the 30th anniversary of Vietnam-US relations approaches in 2025, it presents an opportunity to reflect on their journey and the current strength of their partnership, he added. During US President Joe Biden's visit to Vietnam in September 2023, the two countries signed an agreement to upgrade their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership, which is a good opportunity to bolster overall cooperation, including health cooperation.

The US CDC Vietnam Office was established in 1998, three years after the US Embassy opened in Vietnam. Currently, the office employs around 70 staff across many provinces and cities, coordinating directly with over 15 provinces/cities to provide support and cooperation in healthcare and wellbeing for the Vietnamese people.

In the joint statement, Vietnamese and US leaders highlighted comprehensive and specific health cooperation, including strengthened cooperation in ensuring health security, detecting and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and global epidemic risks, completely and firmly controlling the HIV/AIDS epidemic, eliminating tuberculosis by 2030, developing the pharmaceutical industry, and enhancing the compatibility of regulations to better elevate Vietnam's role in regional and international supply chains.

“Currently a lot of work needs to be done to protect public health, like training human resources, building an information data system and increasing testing capacity to diagnose risks early. The US CDC wants to continue in its partnership and cooperation with Vietnam in these fields,” Eric Dziuban emphasized.

By Thu Ha, Vietnam Business Forum