• An Giang
  • Binh Duong
  • Binh Phuoc
  • Binh Thuan
  • Binh Dinh
  • Bac Lieu
  • Bac Giang
  • Bac Kan
  • Bac Ninh
  • Ben Tre
  • Cao Bang
  • Ca Mau
  • Can Tho
  • Dien Bien
  • Da Nang
  • Da Lat
  • Dak Lak
  • Dak Nong
  • Dong Nai
  • Dong Thap
  • Gia Lai
  • Ha Noi
  • Ho Chi Minh
  • Ha Giang
  • Ha Nam
  • Ha Tinh
  • Hoa Binh
  • Hung Yen
  • Hai Duong
  • Hai Phong
  • Hau Giang
  • Khanh Hoa
  • Kien Giang
  • Kon Tum
  • Lai Chau
  • Long An
  • Lao Cai
  • Lam Dong
  • Lang Son
  • Nam Dinh
  • Nghe An
  • Ninh Binh
  • Ninh Thuan
  • Phu Tho
  • Phu Yen
  • Quang Binh
  • Quang Nam
  • Quang Ngai
  • Quang Ninh
  • Quang Tri
  • Soc Trang
  • Son La
  • Thanh Hoa
  • Thai Binh
  • Thai Nguyen
  • Thua Thien Hue
  • Tien Giang
  • Tra Vinh
  • Tuyen Quang
  • Tay Ninh
  • Vinh Long
  • Vinh Phuc
  • Vung Tau
  • Yen Bai

PM asks for stronger measures against diphtheria

VGP – PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc has recently asked for stronger measures against diphtheria which is spreading fast and widely in Viet Nam’s Central Highlands region.

July 09, 2020 2:32 PM GMT+7

 

Accordingly, the People’s Committees in the Central Highlands region were asked to instruct local residents to undertake preventive measures; timely bring suspected people to medical facilities; early detect infected cases; prevent disease outbreak; minimize fatalities; and vaccinate vulnerable subjects.

Public press agencies were assigned to provide information for local people to stay alert for diphtheria symptoms.

The Ministry of Education and Training was urged to deploy precautious measures at schools while the Ministry of Finance was asked to put aside expenditure for disease prevention.

Earlier, ten more people in the Central Highlands were found to have contracted the disease, bringing the total in the main coffee belt to more than 60, with Dak Lak being the latest province hit by the disease.

Three patients have died because of late detection, all of them in remote areas, which had not recorded any diphtheria cases in the past 16 years.

Dak Lak province vaccinated and isolated more than 700 people in a village of Lak district after the first case was reported.

Total cases reported this year through July 7 are already triple the number in 2019, Acting Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said. The development of the disease has been quite different from previous years, with more areas hit, patients of all ages reported and quite a high fatality rate. 

The minister expressed concern that the disease may be spreading widely because vaccination rates in the affected areas are very low. Most patients didn’t receive sufficient vaccination, with only 6% being fully immunized. 

By Khanh Phuong