Cooperative efforts in Viet Nam to combat antimicrobial resistance

Viet Nam is a rapidly-developing country with growing demand from the population for health services. This is accompanied with an increase in the scale and global linkages of food production, as well as rising local pharmaceutical production and global trade in pharmaceuticals. In a context where the antibiotic resistance (AMR) has become more and more difficult to control, a number of national efforts have been recorded in applying a One Health approach to combat AMR in Viet Nam. These efforts include the promulgation of the National Action Plan on Antibiotic Resistance, 2013-2020(2013), the establishment of the National Steering Committee on AMR(2015), the promulgation of the National Action Plan for the reduction of antimicrobial use and control of antibiotic resistance in livestock production and aquaculture, 2017-2020 (2017).

One of the global concerns that is considered as a key issue in prioritized partnership activities between the United Kingdom and Viet Nam is the prevention and control of antibiotic resistance. In recent years, the Government of Viet Nam has shown its strong and sustainable commitment to this issue, which has supported the country to be chosen as one of the pilot nations for the Fleming Fund – the most well-known program for AMR surveillance at the global level. The aim of this Fund is to support high quality and harmonized AMR surveillance systems in developing countries, contributing to WHO’s Global AMR Surveillance System (GLASS) as well as other efforts to reduce the burden of diseases.

On 5 February 2018, during her business trip to Ha Noi for strengthening cooperation in the human health sector between the United Kingdom and the Government of Viet Nam, Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Advisor to the UK Government, attended the inauguration ceremony of the National Reference Laboratory for AMR. This Lab, which is located in the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases, was established under a project supported by the Fleming Fund. On this occasion, Mdm. Davies expressed her appreciation for the achievements that Viet Nam has made to combat AMR and her expectation for continued support to the National Action Plan on AMR in the coming time.

The project “Engaging the food and agriculture sectors in sub‐Saharan Africa and South and South‐East Asia in the global efforts to combat antimicrobial resistance using a One Health approach”is funded by the UK Government through the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, with the aim of reducing the development and bilateral human-animal transmission of antimicrobial resistant microorganisms and/or determinants via the food chain and the environment. The Inception Workshop was organized on 27 February 2018 and chaired by Vice Minister Vu Van Tam, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), with the attendance of participants from agencies under MARD, the Ministry of Health (MOH), the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), and participants from research areas (Vinh Phuc, Thai Nguyen, Binh Dinh, Dong Nai and Dak Lak provinces), together with other international partners (FAO, WHO, OUCRU, ILRI, USAID, ILRI, the UK Embassy in Viet Nam, etc.). The project duration is from December 2017 to the end of March 2019.

All of the abovementioned on-going efforts are expected to actively support the battle against AMR and to make a significant contribution to this work at both national and international levels./.