Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien has become the first Vietnamese to receive the title of Visiting Professor of Epidemiology conferred by England’s Oxford University.

The honour was presented at a ceremony at the university on October 17.

Addressing the event, Oxford University’s Vice Chancellor Prof. Andrew Hamilton acknowledged contributions by Minister Tien, in her capacity as Director of the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City, to the cooperation in scientific research between the two countries over the past years.

In her present position, the minister has also enhanced international cooperation and scientific research with Oxford University, as well as other education institutes and health centres across the world, he said.

The professor also highlighted Tien’s contributions in her capacity as a guest lecturer at the university’s Nuffield Department of Medicine over three years, beginning last July.

The event spotlights the friendship between Vietnam and the UK over the past 40 years since they launched diplomatic ties in 1973, he said.

Oxford University, one of the oldest and most renowned universities in the UK, has granted the honourary title to only six people worldwide.-VNA