Vietnam's Health Ministry Lists 10 Most Noticeable Events of 2020

The Vietnamese Ministry of Health (MoH) on December 31 announced the ten most noticeable events of this year, with its success in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) containment becoming the brightest spot, state media reported. First, Vietnam managed to curb the COVID-19. As of December 30, Vietnam recorded 1,454 COVID infections, becoming one of the countries with the lowest COVID-19 infection rate in the world. The international community has rated Vietnam as one of the most successful countries to allocate all resources to join the anti-pandemic fight at the lowest cost. Vietnam has been one of the first four countries to isolate this new virus. Second, the health ministry carried out a telehealth scheme, connecting it with 1,500 health facilities as of end-2020. The scheme targets to offer the best health treatment services for locals right at the low-level health facilities. Third, Vietnamese doctors gained some achievements in the surgical sector. Local doctors succeeded in performing a surgery to separate ischiopagus tetrapus cojoined twins. They also made many new records in the human organ transplantation sector. Fourth, the health ministry became one of the two ministries to bring all its level-4 public services to the national service portal. It also pioneered in applying technologies to anti-COVID-19 fight. Fifth, the Vietnamese National Assembly approved amended and supplemented Law on the Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS with 100% of votes in favor. Vietnam has become one of the four countries with the best HIV/AIDS treatment in the world. Sixth, the health ministry collaborated with other ministries to spread good images of locals in the anti-COVID-19 fight. As of end-August, locals and firms donated VND2.2 trillion ($94.83 million) via the Vietnam Fatherland Front to anti-disease workforces. Seventh, Vietnam proposed declaring December 27 as the International Day of Epidemic Preparedness and got it approved by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) for the first time. Eighth, 90.8% of the population in Vietnam has got health insurances and Vietnam has 28 hospital beds for every 10,000 locals. Ninth, the physical strength of Vietnamese people has improved, with an average height growth of young Vietnamese people in 1990-2020 equaling to that in Japan's golden period in 1955-1995. Tenth, Vietnam maintained a fertility rate at 2.1 children for over the past 14 years. (Bo Y Te, moh, vtc)