Vietnam commits to repelling tuberculosis
With valuable scientific research and experience shared at the Union World Conference on Lung Health 2023 that took place in Paris on November 15-18, Vietnam demonstrated its strong commitment to tuberculosis (TB) prevention, according to Director of the National Lung Hospital Dinh Van Luong.
The country’s achievements in new treatment regimens, diagnostics quality and screening as well as the expansion of TB prevention were highlighted at the event, said Luong, who is the head of the National TB Control Programme. He added presentations that spotlighted Vietnam’s experience in post-pandemic response and recovery were highly commended by foreign delegates.
Particularly, Vietnam affirmed its pioneering role in joining efforts to test TB vaccine in 2023, he stressed.
The conference brought together 3,000 delegates who were representatives from governmental organisations and public health establishments, doctors, and TB-affected people all over the world.
In the framework of the conference, representatives from Vietnam’s National TB Control Programme had working sessions with several partners, including the University of California, San Francisco, the University of Sydney, TB Alliance and CHAI.
Vietnam is currently ranked 11th among the 30 countries worldwide with the highest burden of TB and multidrug-resistant TB.
The country detected 103,120 TB patients in 2022, up nearly 31% year-on-year, and 1.8% against that of 2020, proving the strong recovery of the National TB Control programme.
With new treatment regimens such as BPaL having been put in place, the country has carved out a high multidrug-resistant TB treatment success rate.
WHO estimates that over 25 years, a vaccine that is 50% effective in preventing TB disease among adolescents and adults could save 8.5 million lives.
It would also reduce the need for antibiotic treatment and save billions of dollars in costs faced by TB affected households, most of whom are poor and vulnerable.
