Vietnam: Prepares for Pandemic

A day after the event in Hanoi, organized by the Asian Network of Major Cities in the 21Century (ANMC21), which includes Hanoi, Bangkok, New Delhi, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo, Tomsk, Ulaanbaatar and Yangon (The international meeting was posted here.) -- they has a specific meeting with USAID, who provided Vietnam with manuals in the event of a Pandemic. In the past the WHO and USAID have coordinated to develop training manuals regarding standard PPPs but they have not been geared to contingency plans for the infrastructure of the Country.  This seminar dealt with those specifics.

An English version of the story is as follows:

USAID's Avian and Pandemic Influenza Initiative (APII) and partners held a seminar in Hanoi on October 31 to share their experience in coping with pandemic influenza.

• Although almost all provinces and cities have developed their own pandemic preparedness plans (PPP) under Prime Minister instruction, these plans mainly focus on preventive measures within medical institutions and do not harness social involvement. In addition, they don’t have contingency plans to maintain essential services, such as food, electricity, and water during and post pandemic incidents. .

The USAID/APII, in coordination with the World Health Organsiation (WHO) and Kien Giang province, has developed a training manual for local leaders on building standard PPPs to combat pandemics...Kien Giang became the first province which has successfully drawn up such a PPP, including a plan to maintain essential services and continuous operation when a pandemic occurs.
http://tinyurl.com/agfzwwz

Vietnam and the USAID have worked together back in 2011 when they signed an agreement

 4/8/2011

Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) signed an agreement on response to infectious pandemics in humans and animals in Hanoi on April 7.
The agreement will serve as a foundation for MARD to join in the USAID-funded Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) programme, said MARD Deputy Minister Diep Kinh Tan.
US Deputy Chief of Mission in Vietnam, Virginia E. Palmer said EPT is aimed at improving Vietnam and other countries’ capacity in early identification of and response to dangerous pathogens in animals before they can become significant threats to human health.
The EPT programme, which will be carried out from 2011-2015, focuses on disease surveillance, training and outbreak control, especially in areas where threats are most likely to emerge such as the Congo Basin of East and Central Africa, the Mekong region of Southeast Asia, the Amazon region of South America and the Gangetic Plain of South Africa.