Vietnam has called on the international community for continued support, to help it implement its Millennium Development Goals (MDG), especially in economy, said Health Minister Nguyen Quoc Trieu said at the 63rd session of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) General Assembly in Geneva on May 18.

In the last year year, Vietnam has achieved some encouraging results in efforts to reach its MDGs. It has reduced the mortality rate in infants and pregnant women and was presented with the Global Award of Vaccination and Inoculation in 2009. The rate of pregnant women who received check-up from medical workers increased by almost 95 percent.

In combating “HIV/AIDS, malaria and infectious diseases”, Vietnam has reduced new HIV/AIDS infections by 0.3 percent, minimised the amount of people catching and dying from cholera, typhoid, malaria, tuberculosis and also introduced new measures to prevent injuries at home and work and the harmful effects of cigarette.

The minister highlighted that these achievements can be attributed to the government new policies, the combination of the country’s MDG with its socio-economic development goals, and the active support of the international community, including the WHO.

However, as a developing country with most of the population on a low-income, poor resources and an inadequate infrastructure, Vietnam still needs support from international donors, non-governmental organisations and the United Nations to reach these targets, Trieu said./.