29 staff of Vietnam’s Level-2 Field Hospital No. 2 flew to South Sudan on November 19 (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The Ministry of Defence on November 19 held a ceremony to send 29 staff of Vietnam’s Level-2 Field Hospital No. 2 to South Sudan to join UN peacekeeping mission.
Addressing the event, Rear Admiral Nguyen Trong Binh, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army expressed his hope that they will promote solidarity and mutual support to complete all assigned tasks with utmost safety.
He pledged that leaders of the ministry, the General Staff and the General Department of Politics will create all favourable conditions for them to accomplish their mission.
He also asked the Vietnam Department of Peace Keeping Operations and relevant agencies toregularly update the situation of the hospital and ensure support policies for the hospital’s staff.
On November 19, the first batch of the staff of thehospital started a 12-hour flight to South Sudan on a C-17A Globemaster III – the biggest aircraft that Australia sent to Vietnam to help transport the peacekeepers.
The aircraft will also carry the staff of the first hospital back to Ho Chi Minh City.
The rest of the 63 members of the Vietnam’s Level-2 Field Hospital No. 2 will fly to South Sudan on November 26, along with 60 tonnes of supplies and equipment of the hospital.
Vietnam dispatched its first Level-2 hospital to the UN mission in South Sudan in October last year.
Officers and soldiers of the hospital have accomplished their mission of ensuring health care for UN peacekeepers in South Sudan. They also joined defence foreign affairs and served as medical care-givers to locals.
A ceremony to welcome back and honour the returning peacekeepers will be held on December 2 at Military Hospital 175 in HCM City.
Since last October, when they first left for South Sudan, staff of the first hospital have offered treatment for nearly 1,800 patients, with many life-saving surgeries conducted./.
