Vietnam's Proactive Approach to Battling COVID-19
Vietnamese family of recovered COVID-19 patient
presents flowers to a doctor in the northern
province of Vinh Phuc, Feb. 26, 2020. At the time
the patient was the last being treated.
From the get-go, the government of the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam has taken all measures to
combat COVID-19, including a massive public
education and rules enforcement campaign. As of
March 28, Vietnam reported 174 cases and no
deaths. As soon as the virus appeared in Vietnam,
the government struck a National Steering
Committee for COVID-19 with the participation of
ministers and officials across ministries, led by
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, who is
determined that Vietnam will keep its number of
cases to less than 1,000. Deputy Prime Minister Vu
noted that with the people mobilized under the
leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and
the government and its ministries, the Vietnamese
people will defeat the virus. Ministries are
responsible for implementing any decision taken by
the National Steering Committee. In addition,
Vietnam works closely with the World Health
Organization, which has provided lab testing
resources to the country.
In a recent interview, Professor Le Vu Anh, a
public health leader and founding Dean of the
Hanoi School of Public Health, pointed out that
citizens' health care is a top priority of the
government. He explained that health care is
organized through four levels of administration --
central, provincial, district and commune -- and
at each level there is adequate staffing and
infrastructure to support the health of the
people. These levels of organization make it
possible to undertake a successful public
education campaign to inform the citizens of the
danger posed by COVID-19 and involve them in the
fight against the virus, he noted.
Professor Le also pointed out that there is
public health insurance, and although there are
public as well as private health facilities, all
are required to be licensed by the state and are
regularly monitored to ensure that a thorough job
is being done to secure the people's health and
well-being.
Reports reveal the level of intervention and
support Vietnam gives its citizens when it comes
to fighting COVID-19. For example, if a person is
sick in a building, the whole building is locked
down and the government provides three hot meals a
day to everyone in the building at minimal cost
until the person recovers. If a person enters the
country from abroad, government health officials
immediately put them in quarantine for a 14-day
period at state expense. Hotels are being opened
and rooms made available at subsidized rates for
those who wish to move there to self-isolate. This
also helps to keep the tourism industry active
during the pandemic. These and other measures have
proven to be effective means of fighting COVID-19
and Vietnam is showing that the full intervention
of the state and the mobilization and active
participation of the entire people are the key to
successfully containing the virus.
This article was published in
Volume 50 Number 10 - March 28, 2020
Article Link:
Vietnam's Proactive Approach to Battling COVID-19
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
|
