Deputy Minister Nguyen Truong Son underlined the need to make careful preparations forresponding to monkeypox, saying that although no cases of monkeypox had been recorded in Vietnam, the risk of this diseaseentering the country is very high.
He requested health facilities to prepare necessary conditions for preventingthe disease, including clinical-based early detection, sourcing diagnostictests to proactively detect cases early for timely quarantine and treatment.
Son also emphasised the necessity to promote communications activity to raise public awareness of signs of illness; and strengthen trainingfor medical examination and treatment establishments at all levels towards takingeffective and timely measures to prevent monkeypox infections at medical facilitiesand ensuring effective quarantine and treatment.
Nguyen Luong Tam, deputy director of the Department ofPreventive Medicine under the MoH, said the ministry iscurrently developing guidelines for monitoring monkeypox cases in Vietnam and reactivatingthe border quarantine system.
Nguyen Trong Khoa, ViceDirector of the Department for MedicalExamination and Treatment under the MoH, said the ministry has developed a plan to respondto emergency situations, adding scenarios to deal with this disease have also been taken into account bythe health ministry.
On July 23, WHO Director-General TedrosAdhanom Ghebreyesus declared monkeypox a global public health emergency due toits rapid transmission rate and the risk of its spread further to othercountries.
The world has recorded over 22,000 cases. An increase in the number of cases, includingin countries and territories in the Western Pacific region have been posted./.