Staff members of the Level-2 Field Hospital No.3 began the last training phase on December 23 in Ho Chi Minh City before leaving for South Sudan to join the international peacekeeping force there.

Leaders of the Ministry of National Defence pose for a photo with staff
members of the Level-2 Field Hospital No.3. (Photo: VNA)

The training will equip the hospital’s staff members with more necessary skills when doing duty in the African country, with special attention paid to the prevention of and response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Major General Nguyen Hong Son, Director of Military Hospital 175, there are certain advantages for the hospital No.3 in training thanks to experiences from the hospital No.1. However, in the context of the complicated developments of the pandemic, the organisation of the training requires great efforts of the Military Hospital 175 and staff members of the hospital No.3.

“We have to perform our duty in battling the COVID-19 pandemic while engaging in training in accordance with strict requirements of the United Nations,” he said.

Major General Hoang Kim Phung, Director of the Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations, affirmed that all preparations have been completed and the staff of the Level-2 Field Hospital No 3 are fully capable of replacing the hospital No.2.

According to Deputy Defence Minister Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh, Vietnam has so far deployed two field hospitals with 126 staff members to South Sudan. The term of the field hospital No.2 has been extended for nearly five months, and during the extended time, the hospital has not been supplied with materials and equipment from the UN for its operation, Vinh said.

The 63 staff members of the Level-2 Field Hospital No 3 are scheduled to leave for duty in South Sudan in the first quarter of 2021.