While the world is still reeling from coping with the epidemic, Vietnam has successfully contained it, in which the health sector has played an important role.

In reviewing Vietnam’s medical achievements over the last year, the Ministry of Health has announced 10 prominent medical and epidemic prevention events. In which, Vietnam has been praised by the international community as the most successful country in the prevention and control of COVID-19.

1. VIETNAM’S SUCCESS IN FIGHTING COVID-19

Being applauded as the most successful country in the world in the prevention and control of COVID-19, Vietnam has mobilised the entire political system, the entire people and the entire army to participate in the fight at the lowest cost.

Under the strategy of "preventing, detecting, isolating, localising, suppressing and treating", Vietnam has implemented quarantine for more than 730,000 people, provided testing for 1.7 million people and deployed 1,608 border posts with nearly 10,000 staff stationed at the border lines from the 2020 Lunar New Year festival up to now.

Vietnam is one of the first four countries to isolate the new strain of coronavirus. In a short time, Vietnam has actively produced ventilators and diagnostic biologicals as well as starting human trials of its first locally-made COVID-19 vaccine.

As of December 31, 2020, Vietnam recorded a total of 1,465 COVID-19 patients, with the lowest rate of infection per 1 million people in the world. Apart from COVID-19, other diseases occurring in Vietnam in 2020 have also been effectively controlled.

2. DEPLOYING "TELE MEDICAL EXAMINATION AND TREATMENT" PROJECT

The remote examination and treatment scheme connecting 1,000 venues in 45 days. By the end of 2020, more than 1,500 medical facilities have been connected to the system, aimed at all health facilities, especially at the district level, to receive continuous professional support and all people regularly get medical support and when needed.

The project helps people to access quality medical services at the grassroots level, improve the quality of medical examination and treatment of grassroots health care facilities, shorten the gap between the upper and lower levels, and help save lives.

3. EXCELLENT ACHIEVEMENTS IN SURGERY

Typical of Vietnamese surgery was the separation of the ischiopagus tetrapus conjoined twins Truc Nhi and Dieu Nhi at the Ho Chi Minh City Children’s Hospital, the first successful bowel transplant at the 103 Military Hospital, the multi-organ transplant involving various hospitals across the nation to transplant organs from a donor in Vung Tau to patients in Hanoi, Hue and Ho Chi Minh City, and 23 organ transplants in 10 consecutive days performed at Viet Duc Hospital. These achievements confirm Vietnam's medical capacity.

4. THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH REGARDED AS A BRIGHT SPOT IN IMPLEMENTING NATIONAL DIGITAL CONVERSION

In 2020, the health sector has implemented important prerequisites for running a smart healthcare system. As one of the two first ministries bringing 100% of level 4 public services online in connection with the national service portal, while applying artificial intelligence in diagnostic support of COVID-19, the ministry has put Vietnam is at the forefront in the application of information technology to COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control, such as electronic medical declarations, a Bluezone tracing application, a COVID-19 safety map, and remote diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19.

The Ministry of Health has opened the Health Public Portal with data in various areas, along with the launch of several digital platforms to connect health workers and medical facilities nationwide. Around 98 million health records were established by the Ministry of Health and Vietnam Social Security in just five months to prepare for paperless medical examination and treatment.

5. ISSUING THE LAW AMENDING AND SUPPLEMENTING A NUMBER OF ARTICLES OF THE LAW ON HIV/AIDS PREVENTION AND CONTROL

The law was passed with two marks: the only law submitted and passed in one session of the National Assembly (term XIV) and one of three laws passed by 100% of the National Assembly deputies.

Over the past 15 years, Vietnam's HIV/AIDS prevention and control programme has helped about half a million people avoid HIV infection and more than 150,000 people escape deaths related to HIV/AIDS. Vietnam is one of the four countries with the best quality of HIV/AIDS treatment in the world (along with the UK, Germany and Switzerland).

6. A SUPPORTIVE COMMUNITY DURING COVID-19 FIGHT

20 billion text messages with recommendations on prevention and fighting against the epidemic, and calling for sharing have been sent to the people by the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Information and Communication and telecommunications businesses during the fight against COVID-19. As of the end of August 2020, more than VND2.2 trillion has been donated by people and businesses through the Vietnam Fatherland Front to support anti-epidemic forces. In the community, for the first time, effective sharing methods such as the rice ATMs and mask ATMs have been deployed. The spirit of mutual support continued to expand during the natural disasters hit the central region.

7. INTERNATIONAL DAY OF EPIDEMIC PREPAREDNESS ON DECEMBER 27 SUGGESTED BY VIETNAM

The United Nations General Assembly has approved a resolution drafted by Vietnam to declare December 27 as the International Day of Epidemic Preparedness. This is the first resolution of the United Nations General Assembly in this field, and is also the first resolution proposed, negotiated and successfully passed by Vietnam at the United Nations General Assembly.

8. 90.8% OF PEOPLE JOINING HEALTH INSURANCE, 28 BEDS PER 10,000 PEOPLE

These indicators show that two targets assigned by the National Assembly and the Government have been met and exceeded. The case-based health insurance payment method was a success in its first pilot and will be expanded nationwide in 2021.

9. VIETNAMESE PHYSIQUE TAKES POSITIVE CHANGE

According to the Nutrition Census 2020 conducted by the National Institute of Nutrition and the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, the average height for men is 168.1 cm and for women is 156.2 cm. The increase in height of Vietnamese youth in the 1990-2020 period is equivalent to Japan's golden period in terms of height increase in youth from 1955-1995.

Also, according the census, the rate of stunted children under five years old in Vietnam reached 19.6%, falling below 20% for the first time. This is considered a low level as classified by the World Health Organisation in 1997.

10. MAINTAINING SUSTAINABLE FERTILITY RATE

Vietnam has continuously maintained the total fertility rate - the average number of children born per woman - at an average of 2.1 children per woman of reproductive age over the past 14 years. Achieving and maintaining the current replacement level fertility, the population will be stable, thus contributing to reducing the imbalance in sex ratio at birth, prolonging the golden population period, slowing down the aging of the population, and improving population quality, hence contributing to the rapid and sustainable development of the country.

In 2020, the Prime Minister has approved five population programmes, targeting boosting population communications, adjusting fertility level suitable to target regions, improving the quality of family planning services, promoting health care for the elderly, and expanding screening, diagnosis and treatment for certain prenatal and neonatal diseases by 2030. Nhan Dan

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