Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long had a working session with John MacArthur, Southeast Asia Regional Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (U.S. CDC), in Ha Noi on March 29.

Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long (left) presents a souvenir to Southeast
Asia Regional Director of the U.S. CDC, John MacArthur

Speaking at the meeting, John MacArthur congratulated Viet Nam’s health sector for its initial success in containing the COVID-19 pandemic, stating that the country has gained a lot of experience in combating emerging epidemics, from the SARS in 2003, the avian flu to the novel coronavirus disease. 

The U.S. CDC Office in Southeast Asia wishes to have closer cooperation with Viet Nam in pandemic prevention and control in the region, he emphasized.  

The guest said the US is accelerating the production of one billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine (in India) to provide vaccines worldwide aiming to achieve global immunity, adding that the U.S. has also pledged US$4 billion in support of the COVAX program.

For his part, Long stressed that the Vietnamese Health Ministry backs the issues raised by the U.S. CDC Office in Southeast Asia, especially the health security issue, which, he said, is also a priority issue of Viet Nam’s health sector.

Local CDCs in Viet Nam have promoted their role in COVID-19 prevention and control over recent times, the minister said, noting that Viet Nam is further improve its CDC system for better and faster response to possible epidemics in the future.

Minister Long said Viet Nam will set up two central-level CDCs, one in the northern region and one in the southern region, calling for the U.S. support for the construction of these CDCs.

Long also asked the U.S. CDC Office in Southeast Asia to support the ASEAN region, including Viet Nam, in access to the U.S.-produced COVID-19 vaccine supplies to meet the domestic immunization demand.