Việt Nam wants to strengthen cooperation with France on emerging infectious diseases: health minister

Minister of Health Nguyễn Thanh Long (left) holds a working session with visiting Professor Stewart Cole, President of the Paris-based Pasteur Institute, in Hà Nội. — Photo from the Ministry of Health

HÀ NỘI — Minister of Health Nguyễn Thanh Long on Friday held talks with visiting Professor Stewart Cole, President of the Pasteur Institute in Paris.

Affirming that Việt Nam attaches great importance to health cooperation and its relationship with both the Pasteur Institute and France in general, Minister Long expressed gratitude for the valuable support of the French Government, the Pasteur Institute, and Prof. Stewart Cole from the Vietnamese health sector, especially in receiving Vietnamese doctors to practise in French hospitals and the provision of COVID-19 vaccines and medical equipment.

In the future, the health minister suggested further cooperation between the two sides, especially between the Paris-based Pasteur Institute, the Pasteur institute network and Việt Nam-based Pasteur institutes, on researching emerging diseases, as well as fields like molecular biology, immunology, drug resistance of bacteria and viruses, detection of new pathogens, and research and development of prophylactic/therapeutic products.

For human resource development, the Vietnamese health minister suggested that the Paris-based Pasteur Institute provide more scholarships in doctoral training for staff at Việt Nam-based Pasteur institutes, especially in the fields of molecular biology and immunology, cytology, medical bioinformatics, epidemiology, and public health, among others.

Agreeing with Minister Long's proposals on fields of cooperation, Prof. Stewart Cole stressed that the Paris Pasteur Institute stands ready to bolster cooperation with the Vietnamese side in the health sector, especially in human resource exchange and training, conducting joint research projects, sharing research results. This applies particularly to the fields of vaccines and diagnostic biological products for the prevention and rapid detection of infectious diseases, including COVID-19.

He said France would reserve study courses on vaccine research and development for young candidates from Pasteur institutes in Việt Nam.

The French professor noted that Việt Nam has a special place in the Pasteur network, given that there are no countries in the world with three Pasteur institutes, including France.

The HCM City Pasteur Institute, established in 1891, was also the first one to be set up outside of France, followed by the Pasteur Institute in Nha Trang and Hà Nội’s Pasteur Institute, which is now renamed the National Institute for Hygiene and Epidemiology. — VNS