Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long handed over the reward to the WHO representative at a ceremony in Hanoi on April 29.
Long appreciated the support of Dr Park and the WHO in terms of technical expertise, especially in the context of difficult medical conditions in Vietnam.
WHO and Dr Park personally "always stood shoulder to shoulder" with the Ministry of Health (MoH) in the COVID-19 prevention and combat over the past time, especially helping Vietnam access COVID-19 vaccine sources to inoculate local residents, he said.
With the help of Dr Park and colleagues, the MoH has developed some policies and laws relating to public health and health care for Vietnamese people. Several laws have been passed by the National Assembly, Long said.
Dr Park also continuously supported the building of capacity of the health system, especially in remote and isolated areas, as well as the training and development of medical human resources in the country, he said.
The Vietnamese official said he hopes that Dr Park will continue to help the Vietnamese health sector in the new position.
For his part, Dr Park expressed his honour to receive the noble reward of the health sector, affirming that he will keep on accompanying and supporting the health sector in particular and Vietnam in general in areas he is in charge of so that Vietnam soon achieves the goal of universal health coverage.
