Vietnam to Upgrade Hospitals, Ensure Supply of Anti-Virus Drugs
Posted on: Tuesday, 18 October 2005, 03:01 CDT
Text of report in English by Vietnamese news agency VNA website
Hanoi, 17 October: Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has pledged to mobilize the entire political system and the entire society to take part in the fight against bird flu, in an effort to mitigate damages on both the national poultry stock and humans.
The permanent deputy PM told a conference on the nation's urgent plan of action against bird flu, held in Hanoi on 17 October, that the government will intensify its investment in upgrading hospitals, and will ensure sufficient reserves of anti-virus drugs to protect people's health if a deadly pandemic occurs.
The programme needs some 6.87 trillion VND [Vietnamese dong], said the National Steering Board on Bird Flu Control. The board said the money will be used to buy equipment, disinfectants and respirators, and to fund massive exercises on fighting an outbreak of the pandemic amongst human beings.
The plan of action also focuses on measures to protect foreigners living in Vietnam, who will be provided with health supervision and protective measures, including the same medical checks and treatment as those given to Vietnamese citizens.
Local veterinary agencies and medical services have been asked to work closely with counterparts from international organizations and foreign countries, to closely follow and regularly exchange information about relevant developments and therapies.
Vietnam has declared that it has temporarily contained the epidemic, yet the nation is still facing a high risk of relapse. A tough struggle against the formshifting virus lies ahead.
Since December 2003, the H5N1 strain of the avian flu virus has killed 41 of the 91 known infected people in Vietnam. The country has culled almost 50m poultry to prevent the spread of the disease.
Source: BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific
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