During a working session with the Ministry of Health in Hanoi on April 2, Gates and his wife Melinda Gates said their visit to Vietnam is to learn from the country’s experience in carrying out the vaccination programme which will be applied in several African countries under the auspices of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  

Deputy Minister of Health Trinh Quan Huan told their guests that Vietnam had eliminated polio and small pox and is trying to wipe out other child killers such as hepatitis B, cholera, typhoid and measles.

Vietnam has been recoginsed by the World Heath Organisation as a country with a high rate of vaccinated children, said Mr Huan, adding that more than 90 percent of children under a year old have been immunised against fatal diseases so far.

He pointed out difficulties in eliminating measles in Vietnam and asked the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to provide continued support for the country to fulfill the task.

On the same day, the couple visited Gia Lam District’s General Hospital and Trung Mau Commune’s Medical Centre on the outskirts of Hanoi to examine the results of the vaccination programme. The medical centre is receiving support from the foundation.

The couple is scheduled to work with the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) on immunisation projects under the foundation’s sponsorship. According to NIHE Director Nguyen Tran Hien, if these projects are approved, Vietnam will receive US$245,000 from the foundation to benefit 800 female children aged from 11-13.