Vietnam has set up four national-level quick-response teams to prevent the spread of the Ebola epidemic that has been ravaging West Africa.
Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long announced the news on October 19 at a meeting on Ebola prevention at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases.
Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Long at the meeting on October 19 on Ebola prevention
In addition to the teams, provinces and districts will also set up their own teams based on the development of the disease as well as the development of prevention and control methods.
The Hospital for Tropical Diseases is working in conjunction with the Ministry of Health’s Treatment and Examination Management Department to create a plan for the rapid diagnosis and treatment of Ebola. They are also holding training courses for hospital staff on properly handling Ebola patients. An epidemic prevention and control board has been established at the hospital along with a medical first-response team. Ebola testing facilities at the hospital will be appraised by the WHO this week.
Long has urged the Treatment and Examination Management Department to instruct medical facilities to review their protocols for Ebola prevention and control and to continue training courses for their staff.
According to the Ministry of Health, over the past two months, as many as 270 people from Ebola-affected countries in West Africa have entered Vietnam, most of them from Nigeria.
Meanwhile, almost no Vietnamese citizens from the five other Ebola-stricken countries - Sierra Leone, Liberia, Congo, Guinea and Senegal - have returned to Vietnam. Passenger temperature checks on those coming from these countries is currently the main line of defense against the spread of the virus.
