(Illustrative image: www.sggp.org.vn)

They are doctor Nguyen Thi Kim Phuong and associates at Da Nang Hospital for Women and Children, Dr. Ngo Tat Trung and associates at Military Central Hospital 108 in Hanoi and doctor Dang Quang Vinh and associates at HCM City-based My Duc Hospital.

The winners will receive an award of 30 million VND (about 1,300 USD) each and a certificate from Swiss Consul General Martin Maier.

The prize, an initiative of HELVIETMED, aims to recognise contributions of Vietnamese scientists to the global medical sector.

It is named after Dr Alexandre Émile-John Yersin (1863 - 1943) who was a great pioneer in medical research in Vietnam, and who discovered the bubonic plague bacillus and Yersinia pestis. 

His research represented fundamental contributions to the etiologic knowledge of plague and helped eliminate the epidemic disease that claimed millions of people over the century.

HELVIETMED is a non-profit and humanitarian association composed of Swiss health professionals who are of Vietnamese descent or maintain close and privileged relations with Vietnam./.VNA