Representatives of Stockholm University and the Swedish group Bactiguard said they are eager to work with Vietnam on healthcare issues.

Professor of Economics at Stockholm’s University Marten Palme and Associate Professor at the Karolinska Institute and Medical Director of the Bactiguard group, Johanna Admi, stated this on at a press briefing during their visit to Hanoi on April 23.

They have been in Vietnam since April 21 to discuss with Hanoi’s leading hospitals and the Hanoi Medical University the possibility of a joint project to control infections.

At the briefing, Professor Palme said that the project had originated from his special feelings towards Vietnam, something he had inherited from his father, the late Prime Minister Olof Palme, who had given Vietnam his wholehearted support during the war and in later years.

Professor Palme said that Sweden could provide the necessary medical equipment and new technologies that are needed in this field and that professors from Stockholm university would take part in the project.

The project would conduct an assessment of both infection rates in hospitals and their economic impact, said the professor.

He explained that the project would draw up an infection control programme for hospitals which would save patients money and pointed to the fact that hospital-related infections in Vietnam are two to three times higher than in European countries.

Additionally, once implemented, the project would provide an opportunity for cooperation in training and exchange programmes for students and professors between Stockholm Univercity and the Hanoi Medical University and enhance the control of infections in Vietnamese hospitals, said the professor.

Johanna Admi added that the project would create a direct link between the major “players”, including policymakers, the healthcare system, businesses and academics, to improve the control of hospital-related infections.

Over 600,000 cases of hospital-related infections occur annually in Vietnam, forcing patients to stay longer in hospital and costing them additional treatment expenses of between 2 and 32 million VND per patient.

In parallel with a number of private joint projects, in late 2007 the Swedish government began a five-year capacity strengthening project with Vietnam’s Central Sterilisation and Supplies Department (CSSD) of the Health Ministry.

The project intends to help formulate national policies, standards and guidelines for the CSSD’s operations./.