UK helps Vietnam set up national antimicrobial resistance reference laboratory

The inaguration ceremony was witnessed by Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien and the visiting UK Chief Medical Officer Dame Sally Davies.

The laboratory will be run by the Hospital for Tropical Diseases Vietnam, with technical assistance from OUCRU and Public Health England.

Delegates cut the ribbon to launch the laboratory (source: UK Embassy)

The joint project was launched as part of the Fleming Funded, with the aim of contributing to the development of Vietnam National Action Program on AMR launched last November.

In 2015, the World Health Organisation listed Vietnam among countries with the highest antibiotic-resistant infections.

According to Luong Ngoc Khue, Director General of the Medical Examination and Treatment Department, while the first generation of antibiotics is still effective in many countries, Vietnam has to use third and fourth generation pharmaceuticals.

Meanwhile, the amount of sold antibiotics is still on the rise as more antimicrobial-resistant viruses have appeared./.

( Phi Yen )