Vietnam sets up 4 teams to prevent Zika virus

To be ready to support localities in necessary situations, the Ministry of Health decided to establish 4 Zika epidemic prevention teams in 4 regions.

On March 28, the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) of the Ministry of Health held a meeting with representatives of the World Health Organization (WHO) to assess the situation and develop a plan to prevent and control the Zika virus epidemic in Vietnam.

Mr. Kato, WHO representative in Vietnam, assessed that the Zika epidemic is complicated, with 61 countries and territories having recorded cases of the disease.

Mosquitoes that transmit dengue fever transmit the Zika virus.

“Zika virus disease is now a global emergency and there is growing scientific evidence linking Zika virus infection to microcephaly in newborns and polyradiculoneuropathy syndrome,” Mr. Kato emphasized.

In Vietnam, after an Australian tourist tested positive for Zika after 10 days of staying in Ho Chi Minh City, Khanh Hoa, Binh Thuan and Lam Dong, the Ministry of Health assessed that the risk of Zika virus entering and spreading in the community is very high.

Faced with the above situation, Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Long requested to raise the warning level for the entire health system, urgently deploying readiness work in all aspects to proactively prevent and effectively combat the Zika virus epidemic.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Health decided to establish 4 epidemic prevention teams in 4 regions of the North, Central, Central Highlands, and South to be ready to support localities when necessary; Strengthen monitoring and sample collection for suspected cases of Zika virus infection; Continue to organize training on testing techniques for provincial units to expand units with sufficient testing capacity; Organize screening, management and detection of microcephaly in newborns...

The Health Insurance Fund will pay for screening, testing, diagnosis, and treatment and care costs for patients infected with Zika virus.

According to tintuc.vn