Vietnam steps up epidemic surveillance

This is a milestone in the establishment of EOC offices in Vietnam, a cornerstone for the Global Health Security Agenda launched by the US government in 2013.

The sub-national Emergency Operations Centre office inaugurated on October 20th provides one of the most modern epidemic monitoring systems in Vietnam. The system run analyses on infectious diseases such as Zika, Ebola or Mers-Cov from the data updated in real time by state hospitals.

“There are 8 known Zika ìnfection cases in Vietnam and a case of an infant with small head syndrome suspected of being caused by Zika. The screen provides all such information as well as the patients' medical and travel history to give most precise descriptions of the cases”, said Tran Anh Tu - Specialist of Emergency Operations Centre, National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology.

This system gathers data on infectious diseases in 28 northern provinces to build up a national database on epidemics. This comes from technical, financial and training support that the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention provided for Vietnam's health sector.

EOC recruits officers of National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology who were trained at EOC in Atlanta for 6 months or trained in Vietnam by CDC experts from the US.

In the coming time, more EOC offices will be set up in Pasteur Institutes in Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Trang City, and in Tay Nguyen Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology. The system is expected to improve Vietnam's response to increasingly complicated infectious diseases.