WHO Official Hails Vietnam’s Efforts to End Tuberculosis Last Year

World Health Organization (WHO) Representative to Vietnam Kidong Park has praised Vietnam for its significant progress in fighting tuberculosis (TB) last year in a letter sent to Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam on the occasion of World TB Day (March 24), local media reported. Mr. Park took the occasion to invite Deputy PM Dam, who is head of the National Committee on Tuberculosis Prevention and Control, to participate in this year’s World TB Day global campaign. Earlier on March 23, the National Lung Hospital and the anti-TB national program held an event towards World TB Day and called on locals to donate to the Tuberculosis Victims Support Fund (PASTB), which was set up in 2018 by the Ministry of Health. Director Nguyen Viet Nhung of the National Lung Hospital revealed Vietnam has been one of 30 countries with the highest rate of multidrug-resistant TB in the world. The WHO said in its 2020 report that Vietnam is estimated to record 170,000 new TB patients and 11,000 TB deaths every year. (Bao Chinh Phu, Bao Chinh Phu, en.Vietnam Plus)