Vietnam’s achievements in learning about the nature of SARS-CoV-2 and its impact on the human body have been the result of a long process of improving research capacity through the country's investments in biomedical pharmaceutical research.

On the sidelines of the press conference announcing the SARS-CoV-2 quick test kit in early March, Dr Hoang Xuan Su from the Military Medical Academy said he and his colleagues were partly able to successfully create the kit because they had implemented the project on developing a kit to detect the Ebola virus based on one-step real-time RT-PCR four years ago.

Scientists need to undergo a long process, but managers also need to make heavy investment to improve research capacity step by step, experts say.

Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Pham Cong Tac emphasized the significance of long-term investment in research.

Vietnam’s achievements in learning about the nature of SARS-CoV-2 and its impact on the human body have been the result of a long process of improving research capacity through the country's investments in biomedical pharmaceutical research.

“The test kit cannot be obtained after one day or one hour. It’s the result of capacity and experience accumulation for many years,” he said.

The deputy minister said that it is easier and cheaper to prevent disease than fight against disease.

For a country with 100 million people and severe climate conditions like Vietnam, epidemic prevention and readiness to cope with epidemics are issues of great concerns.

The Covid-19 pandemic has suggested new research ideas for scientists in Vietnam and the world and brought new knowledge about virus transmission, clinical treatment solutions, and ways to cope under different scenarios.

The research on coronaviruses began in 1960. However, its natural circulation process, especially in wildlife, remains a mystery. Therefore, new understanding about the virus, the pathogen in mammals, including human and birds, is important to help scientists better cope with epidemics.

Ho Anh Son from the Military Medicine Academy, while pointing out that SARS-CoV-2 is not a new type of virus, and originates from animals, asked the Ministry of Science and Technology and national funds to carry out deep research to have a better understanding about the virus.

“This will allow us to discover and cope with problems after a short time if a new emerging virus or coronavirus appears,” he said.

The problems posed by the COVID 19 pandemic show that Vietnamese researchers need to improve their capacity through research projects via various channels.

COVID 19 shows the dangers arising from the interaction between wildlife and humans. This is an important research direction to help humans control epidemics in the future. 

Mai Lan

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