Spraying disinfectants at Da Nang hospital (Photo: VNA) Tokyo (VNA) - Wise investment in health care is one of thefactors leading to Vietnam’s spectacularlyeffective COVID-19 response, said an article published on the Japan Times onJuly 26.
The article’s author, a distinguished fellow at the Asia ResearchInstitute of the National University of Singapore, Kishore Mahbubanihighlighted differences between East Asia and western countries in the fightagainst the pandemic, saying that the most striking disparity is death tolls.
Japan hasso far reported 7.8 deaths per million, followed by the Republic of Korea(5.8), Singapore (4.6), China (3.2) and, most remarkably of all, Vietnam withzero deaths. By contrast, Belgium now has 846 confirmed deaths per million, andthe UK has 669, followed by Spain (608), Italy (580) and the US (429).
ExplainingVietnam’s success in the fight, Mahbubani said between 2000 and 2016, its percapita public health expenditures increased by an average of 9 percent per year.This enabled Vietnam to establish a national public health emergency operationscentre and surveillance system in the wake of the 2002-2003 SARS epidemic.
Accordingto him, Vietnam’s track record is all the more astonishing given the country’slow starting point. When the Cold War ended three decades ago, and Vietnamfinally stopped fighting wars after almost 45 years of near-continual conflict,it had one of the world’s poorest populations. But by opening up to foreigntrade and investment, Vietnam subsequently became one of the world’sfastest-growing economies.
Asthen-World Bank President Jim Yong Kim pointed outin 2016, Vietnam’s average annual growth rate of nearly 7 percent over theprevious 25 years had enabled the country “toleapfrog to middle-income status in a single generation.” And during the sameperiod, Kim noted, Vietnam had managed the “especially remarkable achievement”of reducing extreme poverty from 50 percent to just 3 percent, he said.
Speaking highly of Vietnam’s global economic integrationpolicy, the author said after the Soviet Union collapsed, Vietnam integrateditself into many of East Asia’s existing regional bodies, including theAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Asia-Pacific EconomicCooperation (APEC) forum. There, the country learned quickly from its neighbours.More recently, Vietnam joined the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement forTrans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the 11-country trade pact spearheaded byJapan./.
The article’s author, a distinguished fellow at the Asia ResearchInstitute of the National University of Singapore, Kishore Mahbubanihighlighted differences between East Asia and western countries in the fightagainst the pandemic, saying that the most striking disparity is death tolls.
Japan hasso far reported 7.8 deaths per million, followed by the Republic of Korea(5.8), Singapore (4.6), China (3.2) and, most remarkably of all, Vietnam withzero deaths. By contrast, Belgium now has 846 confirmed deaths per million, andthe UK has 669, followed by Spain (608), Italy (580) and the US (429).
ExplainingVietnam’s success in the fight, Mahbubani said between 2000 and 2016, its percapita public health expenditures increased by an average of 9 percent per year.This enabled Vietnam to establish a national public health emergency operationscentre and surveillance system in the wake of the 2002-2003 SARS epidemic.
Accordingto him, Vietnam’s track record is all the more astonishing given the country’slow starting point. When the Cold War ended three decades ago, and Vietnamfinally stopped fighting wars after almost 45 years of near-continual conflict,it had one of the world’s poorest populations. But by opening up to foreigntrade and investment, Vietnam subsequently became one of the world’sfastest-growing economies.
Asthen-World Bank President Jim Yong Kim pointed outin 2016, Vietnam’s average annual growth rate of nearly 7 percent over theprevious 25 years had enabled the country “toleapfrog to middle-income status in a single generation.” And during the sameperiod, Kim noted, Vietnam had managed the “especially remarkable achievement”of reducing extreme poverty from 50 percent to just 3 percent, he said.
Speaking highly of Vietnam’s global economic integrationpolicy, the author said after the Soviet Union collapsed, Vietnam integrateditself into many of East Asia’s existing regional bodies, including theAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Asia-Pacific EconomicCooperation (APEC) forum. There, the country learned quickly from its neighbours.More recently, Vietnam joined the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement forTrans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the 11-country trade pact spearheaded byJapan./.
VNA
