Report on the Joint External Evaluations (JEE) of Viet Nam to be released by World Health Organization (WHO)
In 2016, the Ministry of Health (MOH) of Viet Nam in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) and related ministerial/sectorial agencies undertook a Joint External Evaluation (JEE) related to the International Health Regulations (IHR, 2005). The main objectives of the JEE were to evaluate Viet Nam’s capacities in relation to the 19 technical areas of the JEE, in order to inform a multi-year national action plan using the Asia Pacific Strategy for Emerging Diseases and Public Health Emergencies (APSED III) as a framework. The JEE report findingswere drafted and finalised by the WHO Evaluation Team, taking into account comments from the Ministry of Health and other related agencies.
The main findings of the JEE Report of Viet Nam, to be released in May 2017, will show that significant progress has been made in Viet Nam in meeting the IHR (2005) core capacity requirements. Viet Nam’s capacities, as guided by the IHR JEE tool, were predominantly categorised as having ‘developed capacity’ for 52% of items, followed by ‘limited capacity’ on 31% of items and ‘demonstrated capacity’ on 17% of items. Viet Nam’s outstanding capacities in relation to the IHR (2005) were on the technical areas of coordination, communication and advocacy; zoonotic diseases; real-time surveillance; and immunization.
Viet Nam’s strengths are demonstrated via the level of understanding of the IHR (2005) in general and the IHR (2005) Monitoring and Evaluation Framework in particular, as well as the strong political commitment and determination on improvement and cooperation at all levels of government. This commitment is reflected in the legislative and regulatory frameworks that exist in the country from central to local levels. Areas that still to be further improved include documentation of plans and procedures, strengthening multi-sectoral collaboration, standardised competencies for staff in the public health sector, and sustainable investments for
health security.
Based on the findings, a number of overarching recommendations were suggested including: the development of a multi-year national action plan; Legal mandates, authorities and responsibilities of the actors for health security should be reviewed and clarified accordingly; Multi-sectoral and multifunctional coordination and information sharing need to be improved through formal and informal information systems, in order to guide risk assessments used for decision-making and for IHR (2005) implementation. Besides, a national strategy is needed to develop workforce and promote investment for a sustainable system for health security.
Other Asian countries who completed a JEE in 2016 include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan.[i] Viet Nam’s scores on each specific area are available at: https://extranet.who.int/spp/jeeta/viet-nam./.
