The Vietnamese delegation to the event. (Photo: VNA)

On the occasion of the Conference, Deputy Minister Tuyen had working sessions with the UNESCO Director General and Deputy Director General, as well as leaders of a number of participating delegations on the promotion of bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the health care area.

The 42nd session of the UNESCO General Conference opened on November 7, drawing representatives from 194 member countries, 12 associate member countries, observer countries, international organisations and non-governmental organisations.

During the session, the UNESCO General Assembly approved the programme and budget for period 2024 – 2025 period, the human resources management strategy for the 2023 - 2027 period, and UNESCO's operational strategy for Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Participants also discussed many current urgent issues, contributing to promoting peace and sustainable development.

Particularly, on November 21, the Conference passed a resolution on the list of eminent personalities and historical events in 2023 – 2024, which includes progenitor of Vietnamese traditional medicine Hai Thuong Lan Ong Le Huu Trac.

The year 2024 will mark the 300th birth anniversary of the Vietnamese talented medic. To honour his contributions and merits to Vietnam’s medicine, culture, and folklore, Vietnam prepared a dossier and submitted it to UNESCO for recognition, which was highly evaluated by international experts.

The resolution was passed by all UNESCO members, showing the clearest affirmation of the great contributions of Vietnamese people in the fields of education, health, culture, and society, and demonstrating their spread of talent and intelligence in the international arena, he said.

Deputy Minister Tuyen emphasised that famous physician Le Huu Trac was a historical figure who left a treasure of great values in the fields of medicine, culture, and education.

Le Huu Trac (1724 - 1791), alias Hai Thuong Lan Ong, hailed from the northern province of Hung Yen.

He was not only a great physician and pharmacist but also an excellent poet and writer, and a thinker with progressive thought and profound humanitarian spirit. After passing away, he was honoured as the “Saint of medicine of Vietnam”.

He left a large number of works, which reflect his deep knowledge, progressive thought, and pure morality, and set a bright example of medical ethics, principles, and practices for following generations. For those reasons, he was considered the progenitor of Vietnam's traditional medicine.

As the year 2024 will mark the 300th birth anniversary of Le Huu Trac, UNESCO’s decision to commemorate the great physician is a recognition of his dedications to the medicine, literature, and culture of Vietnam and the world.

At the session, aside from the dossier on the Vietnamese figure, UNESCO approved 52 others.

So far, UNESCO has approved resolutions honouring and commemorating the birth/death anniversaries of several Vietnamese figures, namely the 600th birth anniversary of Nguyen Trai (approved in 1980), the 100th birth anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh (1990), the 250th birth anniversary of Nguyen Du (2015), the 650th death anniversary of Chu Van An (2019), the 200th birth anniversary of Nguyen Dinh Chieu (2021), the 250th birth and 200th death anniversaries of Ho Xuan Huong (2021), and the 300th birth anniversary of Hai Thuong Lan Ong Le Huu Trac (2023).