Ha Noi, 1 December 2011 – The health sector in Viet Nam has made remarkable progress in keeping people living with HIV on life-saving antiretroviral treatment, according to a new global report jointly released yesterday by the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Funds (UNICEF) and United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

"Viet Nam's commitment to combat the HIV epidemic has yielded progress in several measures of prevention, care and treatment,"said Graham Harrison, acting WHO Representative in Viet Nam.

07 September, 2011 Ha Noi--The Ministry of Health (MOH) is closely monitoring the current situation of hand foot and mouth disease in Viet Nam. Since 01 January 2011 to 04 September 2011, 98 deaths and 42,673 cases of HFMD have been confirmed across the country. Three quarters of the deaths have been in children aged 3 years or less.

Viet Nam has implemented precautionary measures in an effort to reduce the spread of HFMD. The Prime Minister of Viet Nam has instructed all provincial authorities and relevant ministries to strengthen prevention and control measures against HFMD. In addition, formal guidelines for surveillance, prevention and treatment of the disease have been sent to all health care facilities. "The number of HFMD cases might increase in the coming months when preschools and kindergartens resume,” said Minister of Health, Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Tien.

HFMD is a common viral illness among infants and children under the age of 10 years but can also occur in adults. The virus causes fever and sores in the throat and blisters on the hands and feet. The disease is usually mild and patients generally recover in 7-10 days. The disease is caused by a group of viruses known as Enterovirus (EV). One of these is EV71 which on occasion can cause severe complications, including neurological, cardiovascular and respiratory problems. In Vietnam, the epidemiology of HFMD is complex but EV71 is responsible for nearly half of the infections in those who have tested positive for HFMD.

Hanoi, 26 August 2011 — Viet Nam has suffered a chronic shortage of medical staff with advanced training in applied epidemiology.  Today five fellows graduated from Viet Nam’s Field Epidemiology Training Programme (FETP) which provides public health workers with the skills necessary to rapidly identify, investigate and respond to disease outbreaks.  For a country where 3.5 million people a year are infected with communicable diseases such as influenza, cholera, typhoid, dengue and meningitis, the lack of trained epidemiologists can put immense strain on Viet Nam’s health system and seriously hamper its socioeconomic development.

The FETP, which exists in over 50 countries around the world, was established by Viet Nam’s Ministry of Health in 2008 in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other international partners. “FETP is designed to meet the real need of disease investigation, prevention and control in Viet Nam, said Dr Phan Trong Lan, Ministry of Health Programme Director. “Today we are seeing the realization of many years of hard work, with the graduation of today’s class. We have the first of a new cohort of better trained and well informed epidemiologists who can be our nation’s disease fighters.” he said.

Hanoi, 28 July 2011 — The 28th of July marks the first ever World Hepatitis Day.  At the World Health Assembly in 2010, countries unanimously adopted a resolution calling for concerted action to address the viral hepatitis issue. July 28 was designated World Hepatitis Day, serving as an opportunity to promote specific actions towards preventing and controlling these viruses and the disease they cause.

Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver, most commonly caused by a viral infection. There are five main hepatitis viruses, referred to as types A, B, C, D and E. Hepatitis A and E are typically caused by ingestion of contaminated food or water. Hepatitis B, C and D usually occur as a result of contact with infected body fluids, such as through contaminated blood or blood products, invasive medical procedures using contaminated equipment. Hepatitis B can be transmitted from mother to baby, between family member, and by sexual contact. Types B and C lead to chronic disease in hundreds of millions of people and, together, are the most common cause of liver disease and cancer.

The Western Pacific Region has almost half the global cases of hepatitis B, while having only a third of the world's population. Countries in the region have committed to reducing hepatitis B infection rates in children to less than 2% by 2012 and to less than 1% as a future goal. Dr Shin Young-soo, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific, said reaching the target is crucial and do-able.  "Focused, concerted action is essential, especially in the countries in the Region that continue to suffer from high rates of mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B virus," he said.

Ha Noi, 15 June 2011— At the launch of Viet Nam's first-ever celebration of ASEAN Dengue Day, representatives from the Ministry of Health, the Pasteur Institute, the World Health Organization (WHO) and local provincial government gathered in the southern city of Can Tho in a show of unity in the battle against dengue which has developed into a formidable threat to health across the Asia Pacific region.

ASEAN Dengue Day celebration was identified by the Health Ministers of the 10 ASEAN Member States in 2010 as an annual event to be held every June 15 to increase public awareness on dengue prevention and control. Activities are being conducted at regional, national and sub-national levels to raise awareness.

"The important thing to remember is that beating dengue is everybody's responsibility. The disease cannot be fought merely at the level of the health response. It is also an environmental problem, and that means everyone from national governments down to the householder needs to work to eliminate the presence of mosquitoes." said Dr. Shin Young-Soo, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific.

The Government of Viet Nam made dengue prevention and control a health priority with the establishment of a National Dengue Control Programme in 1999. In the last 20 years dengue mortality and morbidity has been successfully reduced across the country. However, the number of dengue cases remains high with more than 100,000 reported cases each year since 2007. The average annual morbidity has, however, fallen from 112 per 100 000 population to 93 per 100 000 population for the period 2001-2010.

HANOI, 27th May 2011—Dr Ly Ngoc Kinh, Senior Consultant and Former Director, Standing Office of Viet Nam Steering Committee on Smoking and Health (VINACOSH), Former Director General, Medical Service Administration, Ministry of Health, Viet Nam is to receive the World Health Organization's World No Tobacco Day 2011 award for his efforts in controlling tobacco use in Viet Nam.

Ha Noi, 19 May 2011 –  Viet Nam is taking the lead in universal access to comprehensive HIV services as the first country to pilot Treatment 2.0--a new generation of HIV treatment that radically decreases AIDS-related deaths and helps to prevent HIV infection. 

"Viet Nam will pilot Treatment2.0 in the hopes that we can provide everyone in need with HIV prevention, treatment, care and support" said Associate Professor Dr Bui Duc Duong, Deputy Administrator, Viet Nam Administration of HIV/AIDS Control (VAAC), who presented the Treatment 2.0 pilot today at the World Health Assembly in Geneva. The pilot will be launched later this year in two of Viet Nam’s provinces with the highest HIV burden.

In Viet Nam, the HIV epidemic is concentrated in high risk populations, predominantly with people who inject drugs, men who have sex with men and female sex workers. Currently, 254,387 people are living with HIV.  Viet Nam’s response to HIV has successfully scaled up access to treatment in the past five years with 54% of the adult population in need, receiving antiretroviral therapy. However, most people living with HIV seek treatment too late when their immune system has weakened and opportunistic infections such as tuberculosis have set in. In these cases, treatment is much less effective, resulting in increased deaths.

HA NOI - On 11 May , dozens of countries around the world will kick off the first global Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020. From New Zealand to Mexico and the Russian Federation to South Africa, governments are committing to take new steps to save lives on their roads. The Decade seeks to prevent road traffic deaths and injuries which experts project will take the lives of 1.9 million people annually by 2020 in the absence of a major global scale up of prevention efforts.

To mark the launch of the Decade, governments and other stakeholders in more than 70 countries have reported to WHO that they have plans to host high-profile events and release national plans to improve safety and services for victims. A number of landmark national monuments will also be illuminated with the road safety "tag", the new symbol for the Decade. These include Times Square in New York City; Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro; Trafalgar Square in London; the Jet d'Eau in Geneva and the historic Dong Xuan Market in Ha Noi.

"Today Viet Nam is joining countries and communities around the world in declaring their support to take action vital to saving lives on our streets and highways" said WHO Representative (a.i) to Viet Nam, Dr Graham Harrison. "Injuries and deaths resulting from road traffic crashes are a growing health and development concern affecting all nations, and this Decade offers a framework for an intensified response."

This year’s commemoration of the World Malaria Day marks the 10th anniversary of a decade-long effort to reduce the burden of malaria in affected Member States. The global theme for this year is "Achieving progress and impact", and our slogan is "Progress towards malaria elimination in the Western Pacific". It is a time to reflect on the achievements made, identify solutions to current and potential challenges, and call on stakeholders to sustain and improve on their commitment, be it financial, political or technical.

In 2006, the United Nations Secretary-General called for universal access to malaria prevention and control by the end of 2010 and elimination of malaria deaths by 2015. This was followed in 2007 by World Health Assembly Resolution WHA60.18 which calls for a broad range of national and international actions to scale up malaria control and elimination programmes. The Regional Committee for the Western Pacific in 2009 endorsed the Regional Action Plan for Malaria Control and Elimination in the Western Pacific (2010–2015). The plan serves as the road map for malaria elimination.

MANILA, 7 April 2011—The World Health Organization (WHO) today warned of a possible return to the days before antibiotics were developed unless global action is taken urgently to combat the growing problem of drug resistance.

WHO cautioned that the misuse and irrational use of drugs are weakening the fight against diseases, such as tuberculosis and malaria, that should have been contained decades ago. At the same time, other age-old diseases are on the rise, with the possibility of no cure.

The rallying cry of this year's World Health Day, observed on 7 April is "Combat drug resistance!  No action today, no cure tomorrow."  It seeks to raise awareness about what drives antimicrobial resistance and how to halt it. 

"Antimicrobial drug resistance is a complex problem, and it requires a comprehensive response among and between Member States across different sectors," said Dr Shin Young-soo, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific.

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