HANOI, U.S. Embassy and Consulate in Vietnam – Under Secretary Andrea Palm of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was in Vietnam this week to meet with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC ) in Vietnam and the CDC Regional Office for Southeast Asia , U.S. Embassy officials, and Vietnamese government partners to highlight the importance of the U.S.-Vietnam health partnership.
HHS has robust health cooperation with Vietnam both bilaterally and multilaterally through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA). Since the normalization of relations in 1995, the US government has provided over US$1.15 billion in bilateral health programs in Vietnam. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an HHS agency, established a country office in Vietnam in 1998 to implement high-quality, sustainable health systems that lead to long-term impact for the country. In 2021, US Vice President Kamala Harris launched the US CDC Southeast Asia Regional Office in Hanoi to improve regional global health security.
U.S. CDC in Vietnam is the primary partner agency for Vietnam’s Ministry of Health (MOH), providing technical expertise to support and expand programs targeting priority diseases, including HIV, tuberculosis, and influenza. In addition, the US CDC in Vietnam is working closely with the Department of Health to strengthen laboratory and surveillance systems, develop and use emergency operations centers, prevent antimicrobial resistance and infections in health care facilities, prevent zoonotic and vaccine-preventable diseases diseases in the community, helping to develop the workforce for the 21st century and especially recently supporting the epidemic response. In 2023, the US CDC will celebrate 25 years of bilateral health cooperation.
In addition, the Southeast Asia Regional Office strengthens US CDC’s ability to fulfill its mission to protect people in the Americas and throughout Southeast Asia by responding more quickly to health threats wherever they arise and building key relationships to address with shared health priorities. Coordinating with country offices in the region, the Southeast Asia Regional Office is focused on building core public health capacity and responding to public health threats with ministry colleagues and regional partners.
HHS supports the further strengthening of public health in Vietnam through agencies of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), including extracurricular research collaborations with institutions in Vietnam focused on HIV, tuberculosis, and other bacterial, fungal, viral infections and corresponding development of a locally produced anti-influenza vaccine.
HHS Deputy Secretary Palm, among others, visited Hanoi this week to reaffirm the importance of US-Vietnam health cooperation and to express the US’s desire to recognize Vietnam as an important health partner at the multilateral level through ASEAN. The Deputy Secretary’s visit to Vietnam followed a visit to Indonesia for the G20 Ministerial Meeting.
“I am grateful for this opportunity to visit Vietnam to see firsthand the strength of the United States-Vietnam health partnership and to discuss Vietnam’s role as a leader in advancing regional health security. We know that our health is inextricably linked to the health of others around the world. The United States is proud of our longstanding partnership with the Government of Vietnam, which serves as a model of bilateral cooperation in addressing shared health priorities,” said Deputy Secretary Palm.