Vietnam ’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and theUS Agency for International Development (USAID) signed an agreement onresponse to infectious pandemics in humans and animals in Hanoi onApril 7.
The agreement will serve as a foundation for MARD to join in theUSAID-funded Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) programme, said MARD DeputyMinister Diep Kinh Tan.
US Deputy Chief of Missionin Vietnam , Virginia E. Palmer said EPT is aimed at improvingVietnam and other countries’ capacity in early identification of andresponse to dangerous pathogens in animals before they can becomesignificant threats to human health.
The EPTprogramme, which will be carried out from 2011-2015, focuses on diseasesurveillance, training and outbreak control, especially in areas wherethreats are most likely to emerge such as the Congo Basin of East andCentral Africa, the Mekong region of Southeast Asia, the Amazon regionof South America and the Gangetic Plain of South Africa.
Since 2005, USAID has provided Vietnam with around 63 million USDto prevent avian influenza. The US cooperation with Vietnamesepartners has helped reduce risks of a number of pandemics.
According to USAID, nearly 75 percent of all new, merging orre-emerging diseases affecting humans at the beginning of the 21 stcentury have originated in animals./.
The agreement will serve as a foundation for MARD to join in theUSAID-funded Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) programme, said MARD DeputyMinister Diep Kinh Tan.
US Deputy Chief of Missionin Vietnam , Virginia E. Palmer said EPT is aimed at improvingVietnam and other countries’ capacity in early identification of andresponse to dangerous pathogens in animals before they can becomesignificant threats to human health.
The EPTprogramme, which will be carried out from 2011-2015, focuses on diseasesurveillance, training and outbreak control, especially in areas wherethreats are most likely to emerge such as the Congo Basin of East andCentral Africa, the Mekong region of Southeast Asia, the Amazon regionof South America and the Gangetic Plain of South Africa.
Since 2005, USAID has provided Vietnam with around 63 million USDto prevent avian influenza. The US cooperation with Vietnamesepartners has helped reduce risks of a number of pandemics.
According to USAID, nearly 75 percent of all new, merging orre-emerging diseases affecting humans at the beginning of the 21 stcentury have originated in animals./.
