The 'democracy' and 'human rights' cards cannot weaken Vietnam's determination to fight the epidemic

The fourth wave of Covid-19 has spread to many localities across the country, with thousands of deaths.

Faced with the complicated developments, the Party, State and Government have synchronously deployed many solutions to both fight the epidemic and ensure social security in the spirit that the life of each citizen is the most precious. However, there are still many criticisms, criticisms, and even complete denials of the efforts that the whole country is making.

Many individuals have taken advantage of the "democracy" and "human rights" cards to attach to the task of preventing and fighting the Covid-19 epidemic, while spreading fake news and untrue information to manipulate public opinion with the intention of sabotaging the country's anti-epidemic efforts.

Distorted and provocative information. Photo: VTV

Misleading and misleading arguments

On July 8, the BBC published an article titled “Covid-19: Fighting the pandemic in Vietnam’s style – Only pitying the people” with an unscrupulous and one-sided view of the Government’s anti-epidemic solutions. The author of the article, using provocative words, criticized the Vietnamese Government for violating human rights in its policy of quarantining people related to infected cases. The article also superficially compared the anti-epidemic methods of developed countries with Vietnam, claiming that Vietnam is making mistakes in its strategy, leading to uncontrolled outbreaks of infections.

Also on BBC, in the roundtable discussion on August 8, there were one-sided and negative comments about the Vietnamese Government's approach to fighting the epidemic and ensuring social security. Participants criticized the Government for being "lulled to sleep" by the success of previous epidemics and not having the right direction in fighting the epidemic in Ho Chi Minh City and the southern provinces this time. One participant even said that the government focused on slogans and slogans but lacked practical measures, especially in social security policies for the disadvantaged.

In recent days, opinions have also appeared on social media sites from some people who are considered to have influence on society, criticizing the Government for being rigid in its approach to epidemic prevention and lacking the ability to respond to large-scale crises. They believe that local authorities only use the "easy" measure of lockdown, without taking into account the vulnerable who have no means of livelihood and are forced to go out illegally. Some people even call it an act of "deprivation of the right to live normally".

With a short-sighted and ill-intentioned perspective, some individuals and organizations are deliberately not acknowledging Vietnam's efforts in preventing and fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, and are spreading the argument that "Vietnam's success in fighting the pandemic is thanks to luck".

National Assembly Delegate Pham Van Hoa. Photo: Quochoi

The Vietnamese Government's anti-epidemic solutions are supported by the people.

Commenting on the above information, National Assembly delegate of Dong Thap province, Mr. Pham Van Hoa, said that this is untrue information aimed at distorting, defaming, profiting, causing confusion and anxiety for the people.

Mr. Pham Van Hoa emphasized that anyone who has followed the development of the epidemic and the process of organizing epidemic prevention and control in Vietnam in recent times cannot help but notice that the Government and local authorities have chosen flexible and adaptable methods. The goal is very specific: "both preventing and fighting the epidemic, protecting people's health, and recovering and developing the socio-economy in the new normal state", the motto of action is also predetermined: "5K+ vaccines", the whole population participates with the spirit of "fighting the epidemic like fighting the enemy".

The National Assembly delegate of Dong Thap province affirmed that the Party and Government have had very effective, wise, proactive and flexible solutions and measures that have been supported by the majority of people, together with the Government's determination to prevent and contain the Covid-19 epidemic so that life can return to peace.

Also aiming to distort the determination of the Vietnamese Government and people to prevent the epidemic, some opinions cling to the current number of deaths due to the Covid-19 epidemic to compare with the number of poor people and unemployed people caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, to protest the way to fight the epidemic, applying Directive 16 in many provinces and cities of the Vietnamese Government.

But looking at the reality of what has been happening in the world's leading countries in terms of the number of deaths and the number of Covid-19 infections and suspected infections since the outbreak of the disease until now, we cannot help but see a very clear difference in the way the government perceives and addresses the challenges caused by the pandemic in many relationships, such as: between economic growth and people's health; between the state and the market in providing some essential public services; between ensuring democracy and strengthening discipline...

Closely following the epidemic prevention situation in recent times, Mr. Pham Van Hoa said that the Vietnamese Government has learned from the world's epidemic prevention situation and has preventive solutions, encouraging people to strictly implement the 5K measures, get vaccinated, and especially comply with Directive 16. According to Mr. Hoa, although this measure is somewhat rigid, it cannot be denied that this is the core and most effective measure. In the process of implementing Directive 16 of the Government, there is still a large number of people who have not strictly complied, are still subjective, and some places have revealed limitations and shortcomings, forcing the Prime Minister to criticize the confusion, passivity, and subjectivity many times so that those localities must make timely corrections. However, besides that, thanks to strict implementation and good compliance, many places have almost no epidemics, many places have them but only a little.

National Assembly delegate of Dong Thap province Pham Van Hoa stated that the statements by some hostile forces that disagree with the regime and that Vietnam has lost democracy and human rights and that people do not have freedom of movement are distorted, misplaced, and one-sided. Social distancing is not the only way we can implement this pandemic, we have done it before and it has shown good results, so there is no reason to say that Vietnam violates democracy and human rights. Those opinions are only aimed at dividing and causing people to panic and worry.

The government proactively changed its vaccine priority policy, adding the elderly to the priority group. Photo: Ministry of Health

Thousands of people have died in this fourth wave of the pandemic. The number of deaths from Covid-19 announced every day is an unexpected number. It also shows the fierceness of the battle that the whole country is facing.

Without evasion, the Government and localities have been transparent in all information on epidemic prevention.

When businesses or individual organizations cannot buy vaccines themselves like other common goods, with their prestige and diplomatic efforts, the Party and State leaders have done their best to obtain the largest number of vaccines as quickly and as much as possible as recently. Not only that, the Government has also proactively changed its vaccine priority policy, adding to the priority groups the elderly and those participating in production supply chains. The Government also gives special priority to vaccines for Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and some provinces with many industrial parks such as Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Long An, Bac Giang, Bac Ninh, Hai Duong.

All actions of the Government and the entire political system are aimed at protecting the health and lives of the people as the top priority. Next is protecting the production and distribution system to ensure social security. All of these policy changes are proof that the Government knows how to listen to correct criticism to come up with solutions that are suitable for reality.

Even the ashes of victims who unfortunately passed away due to the pandemic were given to the armed forces to guard and burn incense, contributing to fulfilling morality and human affection in the final journey with the deceased.

For many people in the epidemic area, the humane policies of the government and the charitable works of organizations and individuals for people in difficulty have made them more sympathetic to the Government and local authorities in the fight against the epidemic that still has many challenges ahead.

Vietnam needs to unite and stand together in this battle.

Emphasizing that since the beginning of the pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) has always believed in the whole-of-society approach of the Vietnamese Government, as outlined by the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control, WHO Representative in Vietnam, Mr. Kidong Park, affirmed that Vietnam has introduced comprehensive community protection measures, focusing on vaccinating vulnerable groups due to the pandemic. These are all important measures, bringing about effectiveness in preventing the spread of the pandemic and reducing the number of deaths due to Covid-19. The strong implementation of these measures, combined with the rapid identification of cases through testing, contact tracing, and isolation, is a key factor in controlling the pandemic.

However, Mr. Kidong Park also noted that social distancing measures are only successful when everyone is united and implements these measures well, and the entire community must stand together in this battle. Thus, controlling the spread of Covid-19 is not only the role of the Vietnamese Government and health system but also the responsibility of the entire community, so that Vietnam can once again defeat the epidemic./.

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