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Seeing his son get excited about online learning, Thu decided to register him for an English online class run by an overseas Vietnamese who teaches via Zoom.

The Hanoitimes – The project is Vietnam’s largest on information technology, modernizing population management with the application of science and technology, based on the national population database and ID.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS) on August 17 launched the National Center for Population Database which is the fundamental for e-government application and digital economy building.

Vietnam’s population database is handled mostly manually. Photo: doanhnhansaigon

With a total investment of more than VND3.3 trillion (US$150 million), the project was approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in 2015. This is Vietnam’s largest project on information technology so far, modernizing population management with the application of science and technology, based on the national population database and ID, the MPS said on its website.

Components of the project are building technical infrastructure, leasing transmission infrastructure, and building application software systems. It will form the basic content of the national scheme on simplifying administrative procedures, the management of citizenship documents and population databases.

The MPS is responsible for building the database to store, standardize, digitize and manage the basic information of all Vietnamese citizens. The task has required the re-arrangement of the organizational structure of the ministry’s Police Department for Administrative Management of Social Order.

To deploy the task, the department reduced its units from 11 to 6, including one special unit – the National Center for Population Database which is a merger of five units.

Senior Lieutenant Colonel To Anh Dung, deputy director of the Police Department for Administrative Management of Social Order, was appointed to concurrently hold the position of director of the center.

Speaking at the launching ceremony, Deputy Minister of Public Security Nguyen Duy Ngoc suggested that the Police Department for Administrative Management of Social Order should continue to coordinate with professional units to advise ministry and government leaders in reporting on the revised Residency Act to the National Assembly.

The Hanoitimes – Any citizen in need of help should call diplomatic missions via the contact posted on their websites or citizen protection hotlines.

Vietnam brought 800 Vietnamese nationals to the country safely between March 21 and March 25 as part of efforts that the Vietnamese government has made in the context that other nations impose travel restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang of Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Photo: MOFA

Spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed the information at a press conference on March 26 that diplomatic missions are working with related parties to bring 40 more Vietnamese citizens who are stranded at foreign airports.

Any citizen in need of help should call diplomatic missions via the contact posted on their websites or citizen protection hotlines, Hang said.

Vietnam’s diplomatic missions overseas have been actively helping Vietnamese nationals find flights to go home and no Vietnamese diplomat has been found positive with the coronavirus so far, Hang informed.

As the global pandemic has become complex and unpredictable, Vietnam has suspended the entry of all foreigners from March 22. Meanwhile, many countries have closed borders to limit the spread of the virus.

The moves have somewhat resulted in the difficulties in traveling, leaving many people stuck en route home.

Two airports in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have been required to stop receiving international flights that carry Vietnamese passengers from March 26 to March 31 due to overload of mass quarantine establishments.

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has suspended all international routes in a phased manner until April 30 while VietJet has halted flights to and from ASEAN and Northeast Asian countries from March 20, except for the Hanoi-Tokyo route that will be operated until April 4.

When the epidemic broke out in Chinese city of Wuhan, Vietnam Airlines took a flight to repatriate 30 citizens on February 10 on a flight served by 15 crewmembers and three doctors.

The 69th edition of the prestigious pageant previously was canceled over the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Nguyen Tran Khanh Van from HCMC was announced as the winner of the 2019 Miss Universe Vietnam beauty contest. Born in 1995, she is 1.76 m tall with body measurements of 83-60-91cm. The beauty has been chosen to represent Vietnam at Miss Universe 2020.

Khanh Van has recently joined a program titled “One Body Village”, aiming at rescuing, restoring, and rebuilding lives of children affected by sexual abuse in Vietnam. She was also one of the ambassadors of the HCMC Ao Dai festival 2020.

Launched in 1952, Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by the Miss Universe Organization. This pageant is one of the most publicized beauty contests in the world.

Singer Thuy Lam won Miss Universe Vietnam which was held for the first time in 2008. Pham Thi Huong, from the northern port city of Hai Phong was winner of the Miss Universe Vietnam 2015.

H’Hen Nie, a girl of E De ethnic minority group crowned Miss Universe Vietnam 2017. She represented Vietnam made it to the Top 5 alongside, Miss Philippines, Miss Puerto Rico, Miss South Africa and Miss Venezuela at the final round of the Miss Universe 2018 concluding in Bangkok, Thailand.

Miss Universe Vietnam 2019, Khanh Van has shared her new photographs which follow her journey in preparation for the Miss Universe 2020 pageant.

Last year was very taxing for the healthcare sector as the pandemic has led to a dramatic loss of human life worldwide and presents an unprecedented challenge to public health. How has AstraZeneca Vietnam contributed to increasing patient access over the past year?

Nitin Kapoor, chairman and general director of AstraZeneca Vietnam

While it has been a real test to the world, our innovative and patient-centric spirit has helped us not only rise to the unique challenges posed by the pandemic but also ensure that we leave no patients or healthcare professionals behind in this trying time. As we are celebrating Doctors’ Day in Vietnam, I want to thank all the doctors, nurses, and healthcare staff for their tireless efforts to keep us safe.

Globally and in Vietnam, AstraZeneca is committed to ensuring broad and equitable access to our COVID-19 vaccine. We are proud and thankful for the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Drug Administration of Vietnam’s conditional authorisation of our COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca for emergency use. We are partnering with Vietnam Vaccine JSC to deliver 30 million doses of the vaccine to the country, starting from the first half of 2021.

To support Vietnam’s healthcare system when it faced great shortages, last year AstraZeneca donated 400,000 medical masks to the MoH and personal protective equipment to the National Hospital for Tropical Disease. Our contributions to Vietnam’s fight against the pandemic were recognised with the Minister of Health’s Award of Excellence.

In July, our major structural and operational transformation was completed when we became one of the first pharmaceutical multinationals to successfully transition to a foreign-invested enterprise and sign a landmark local distribution partnership. This change has allowed us to better deliver our innovative, high quality medicines to millions of Vietnamese patients.

We have also accelerated our digital transformation, reaching over 80,000 healthcare professionals virtually even during pandemic restrictions and supporting major hospitals in their telehealth and digital healthcare education programmes, all to ensure that patients’ access to healthcare is not disrupted.

Along with the global health crisis, the Vietnamese healthcare sector is facing a growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). How important is partnership in easing this in the community?

The increasing healthcare needs and growing NCD burden require that we form robust and comprehensive collaborations in order to achieve better health outcomes for patients. Public-private partnerships also play a vital role as they can contribute diverse and complementary resources towards a mutual goal in a shorter time. AstraZeneca Vietnam’s mission is to reduce NCD burden in Vietnam, and we have been a long-term partner with the government, the MoH, and healthcare institutions to maximise our collective impact.

In our 27-year operations in Vietnam, our most notable sustainability programmes include the Healthy Lung Programme where we partner with the Medical Service Administration and respiratory medical associations to improve outpatient management for asthma, COPD, and lung cancer; and the Young Health Programme through which we work with the MoH and Plan International to reduce NCD risk behaviours amongst young people. In 2018 and 2019, to raise awareness of NCDs and increase their early detection, we also organised two community days in Hanoi where our volunteers provided 1,000 free screenings and consultation sessions.

Reflecting on this past year, what do you think is the biggest lesson from COVID-19, and how can we avoid letting it happen again?

These are tough questions that I’m sure many world leaders have been asking. What we’ve witnessed is how vulnerable the global health system is in the face of crises such as pandemics or natural disasters. COVID-19 has really highlighted the importance of early detection of diseases, disaster contingency plans and preparedness, trust in science, transparent and decisive leadership, and cross-border and cross-sectoral partnership.

The Vietnamese government and the MoH have demonstrated the best practice in pandemic response – leading the country effectively through the pandemic and protecting lives, while maintaining remarkable economic growth.

As crises will continue to happen in the future whether we like it or not, it’s vital that we increase healthcare systems’ sustainability and resilience so that they are resistant to whatever comes in their way. AstraZeneca Vietnam is contributing our part via two programmes – one is the Partnership for Health System Sustainability and Resilience with the World Economic Forum, London School of Economics, and Vietnam’s Health Strategy and Policy Institute to generate insights on how Vietnam’s healthcare system can be strengthened. The other one is Green Energy for Health, where we donate solar energy systems to local healthcare stations in disadvantaged areas, allowing them to save costs and improve energy supply stability.