Hanoi (ANTARA) – Abnormal changes in weather conditions in Vietnam increase the risk of disease transmission because it is located in a hot and humid tropical monsoon area.
The risks of diseases that can attack Vietnamese citizens include dengue fever, measles and foot and mouth disease. Then there are diseases that can be prevented with vaccines such as pertussis, bird flu and mumps, to dangerous new diseases imported from abroad such as monkey pox.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that each year there are around one billion cases of seasonal flu, including 3-5 million severe cases with 290,000 to 650,000 of them proving fatal.
Apart from seasonal flu and acute respiratory infections, in 2023 the world will also record cases of highly pathogenic bird flu such as A(H5N1), A(H5N6), and A(H9N2).
In 2023, Vietnam succeeded in controlling the infectious disease situation well, with the overall goal of minimizing the incidence and deaths from infectious diseases compared to the 2016-2020 average.
However, Vietnam’s Ministry of Health said that disease prevention and control still faces various challenges due to the unstable and unpredictable development of diseases, including the emergence of new diseases and mutations of existing diseases.
Apart from that, dengue fever with a high annual prevalence often attacks people living in densely populated areas, urban areas and industrial areas.
Population dynamics with many tourists, students and ethnic minorities also complicate efforts to control disease cases and carry out epidemic prevention and control activities.
The ministry also reminded that vaccination rates in some areas are still low, especially in remote areas and inhabited by ethnic groups, so the immune response may decrease over time.
Therefore, through the new plan for preventing and controlling infectious diseases in 2024, the Ministry of Health proposes that provincial and municipal People’s Committees direct health departments to draw up plans for preventing and controlling infectious diseases.
Epidemic surveillance, especially at border gates, community and health facilities is required to be carried out periodically to detect threats and design timely responses to prevent widespread transmission and prolonged outbreaks in the community.
The Ministry of Health has also ordered regular mosquito and larval eradication campaigns to be carried out while still paying attention to community involvement in efforts to prevent dengue fever.
Source: VNA-OANA
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2024-02-16 06:28:57
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