Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City and Director for Trade in Vietnam Oliver Todd addresses the event. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Hanoi (VNA) - Investment and focus in healthcare and pharmaceutical products contribute to Vietnam’s successful development of its medical system, improvement in treatment quality and bolstering of vaccination coverage. 
   
Vietnam is among countries with the fastest growth in the region, with intensive development in healthcare and pharmaceutical products, said Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City and Director for Trade in Vietnam Oliver Todd. He made the statement during a signing ceremony of Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) between GSK pharmaceutical manufacturing and its partners held on May 11.

Todd added that investment in healthcare and pharmaceutical products helps more people access basic healthcare, thereby improving lifespan and quality of life. 
 
Vice head of the Drug Administration under the Ministry of Health Nguyen Thanh Lam said COVID-19 developments in the past two years show the necessity of response plan preparation. This should be done in an early and effective manner, especially against communicable diseases and respiratory ones.
 
As a result, the Health Ministry hopes that medical units will put forward measures to help protect and take care of people’s health.
 
Luis Arosemena, Senior Life Sciences and Healthcare Executive for SVP Emerging Markets of GSK said it is an important milestone for the establishment and development of GSK in Vietnam. The country is among prioritised markets of the company in the region.
 
The GSK will provide Vietnamese people with new medicine and vaccines. Partnerships will be forged to set up a sustainable pharmaceutical product supply chain. At the same time, knowledge will be exchanged and arrange training courses developed so as to raise public awareness, Arosemena affirmed.
 
ꦯ In the framework of the programme, GSK - one of the leading pharmaceutical manufacturers of the world - sealed MoUs with a number of Vietnamese partners. These are the Vietnam Medical Association, the National Phytopharma Joint Stock Company and the Vietnam Vaccine Joint Stock Company, on training, medical department development in a bid to raise the quality of treatment and clinical trial at all levels nationwide. 

Signatories pose for a group photo at the signing ceremony (Photo: VietnamPlus)

The sides discussed and shared experience in life-long vaccination programmes in the region and other nations across the globe.
 
The establishment of a sustainable pharmaceutical product supply chain is expected to help Vietnamese people prevent diseases and access effective treatment. It will also help with bolstering exchange of knowledge so as to ensure efficient quality management in line with international standards.
 
The move also aims to expand vaccination coverage among children and adults in Vietnam during a suitable period of their lives in order to prevent dangerous infectious diseases.
 
GSK Vietnam has set a goal to improve health conditions of one third of the population in the next three years. It has targeted that six out of 10 newborns will be inoculated against infectious diseases. It has also targeted that millions of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease along with tens of millions infected patients will be treated with effective and quality antibiotics. 
 
According to experts, Vietnam is suffering from newly emerging communicable diseases at high risk developing into an epidemic. In recent years, Vietnam has countered SARS, influenza A virus subtypes H1N1 and H5N1, foot-and-mouth disease, measles, and dengue fever. The fatality ratio from the diseases was estimated at 30 percent in 2010.
 
Since 2012, with the support of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment at the Health Ministry has evaluated the capacity and demand for training in the clinical management of acute respiratory infection, as well as in building training programmes and translating the guidelines of the WHO.
 
ꦕ The average life expectancy of Vietnamese is 73.6 compared to 68.6 in 1999, according to the population census in 2019./.