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Hanoi, February 3, 2015 - Today, U.S. Ambassador Ted Osius and Vietnam’s Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien inaugurated Vietnam’s Ministry of Health Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at the General Department of Preventive Medicine with leaders from the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the World Health Organization (WHO), U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S. CDC), the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency, and regional public health institutes from across the country.
“As a WHO Member State, Vietnam is committed to protecting the health of the global community and will do our best to implement WHO’s International Health Regulations. The Vietnam EOC will help connect the MOH to other partners, both domestically and internationally, in response to public health emergencies of international concern and prevent them from spreading to Vietnam, the region, and the rest of the world.” said Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien in her opening remarks.
Ambassador Ted Osius also added, “[The Vietnam EOC] is an example of 20 years of the U.S. and Vietnamese governments working closely together, committed as partners, to build upon a foundation that led to the Comprehensive Partnership and the recent Global Health Security Agenda. It will take many nations, working together, to secure the health and future of all of our children. That is why Global Health Security is so important.”
As part of the U.S. Global Health Security Agenda launched in February 2014 by President Obama in collaboration with WHO, U.S. CDC and other U.S. government agencies have been providing support to Vietnam’s government leaders and public health experts to enhance the prevention, detection, and response of disease outbreak emergencies, including upgrading laboratory equipment and information and emergency management systems.
Source: http://vietnam.usembassy.gov/
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