New milestone in Vietnam - UN ties in the fight against COVID-19
According to the Ministry of Health, the UN staff member was brought to Vietnam in critical condition, by a private plane run by the UN Emergency Chartered Medical Evacuation Services (MEDEVAC).
After undergoing intensive treatment in a strict quarantine process, and thanks to expertise and dedicated care of Vietnamese doctors and nurses, the patient have fully recovered and been discharged from hospital. The UN staff member left Vietnam on June 15 to come back to work as normal.
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| First emergency treatment for UN staff member marks new milestone in Vietnam–UN ties. Photo: VNA. |
It was the first time Vietnam has received and treated a patient as a UN staff member under the MEDEVAC mechanism, marking a new development progress in the Vietnam – UN comprehensive partnership. The deed once again affirmed Vietnam’s humane tradition, willingness and commitment to contribute to international cooperation in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.
UN leaders and representatives at different levels expressed their gratitude to Vietnam’s good will and spirit of international solidarity. They highly apreciatted of the Vietnamese health sector’s professional capacity and contributions to the care and protection of people’s health as well as expanding international cooperation and improving the country’s position.
In particular, UN Under-Secretary General Atul Khare lauded the significance of the deed, saying it helped the UN fulfill its tasks in the region. He also expressed wish to receive more support from Vietnam in the time ahead.
On the occasion, he also thanked Vietnam for continuing to send medical workers to the leve-2 field hospital in South Sudan and giving COVID-19 vaccine shots to them before departure.
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| A foreign diplomat has received a COVID-19 vaccine shot in Hanoi. Photo: MoH. |
Currently, more than 600 members of foreign diplomatic missions and United Nations organizations in Vietnam have been inoculated against the SARS-CoV-2 virus during the past days in Hanoi.
The vaccination, initiated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, was carried out by doctors of the Central Lung Hospital in Hanoi on June 9-10.
Diplomats and their staff were required to make health declaration and undergo medical check-ups before getting the jab. None of the serious reactions were reported after the vaccination, said sources from the hospital. Members of foreign diplomatic missions highly appreciated Vietnam’s epidemic prevention and control, especially its early COVID-19 vaccination.
Meanwhile, Vietnamese diplomats and their staff in many foreign countries regions have also been vaccinated against COVID-19, with WHO-licensed vaccines such as Pfizer-BioNTech, Astra Zeneca, Moderna, Sputnik V, and Sinovac.
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MEDEVAC was set up with the aim of creating a global framework to provide emergency evacuation for severely ill UN staff members who require a level of care not available at their locations. Many countries in and outside the region engaged in the reception and treatment for them via the MEDEVAC mechanism. The UN, through the COVAX Facility, had already sent nearly 2.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to Vietnam, out of a total of 38.9 million doses it committed to provide for the country free of charge. Since its admission to the UN in 1977, Vietnam has received great support and assistance from UN organs to overcome war consequences, reconstruct the country and in the renewal process, especially improve production capacity, develop human resources, science-technology, integrate into the world and fulfill global development goals. Together with offering medical supplies to countries worldwide in the past year, Vietnam has and will continue contributing to international solidarity to surmount the pandemic. |
