Hanoi (VNA) – Politburo member and standing member of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat Vo Van Thuong has commended staff members of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) for their tireless efforts in COVID-19-related research.
Making a visit to the institute on February 9 on the occasion of the Lunar New Year festival, the Party official affirmed that the NIHE has always fulfilled its tasks in researching and training, especially in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
He noted that Vietnam was one of the first four countries in the world successfully in culturing and isolating the SARS-CoV-2, thus contributing to the development of vaccine for COVID-19.
Leaders of the institute are always the first to arrive at pandemic hotspots and the last to leave after the outbreaks are contained, helping enhancing the quality of medical services at the grassroots level, and people’s trust in the control of the pandemic, Thuong said.
He asked relevant agencies, especially the Health Ministry, to provide the best possible support for the institute to fulfill its tasks.
Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said the health sector has done its best in 2020 and has fulfilled the tasks assigned by the Party and the State, contributing to achieving the twin targets of containing the COVID-19 pandemic and maintaining economic development.
The sector will make further efforts in 2021, an important year for reforming the health sector, he promised./.