Ministry of Health of Vietnam directs on strengthening healthcare efforts to ensure the celebration of Lunar New Year - Year of the Snake in 2025

Ministry of healthcare of Vietnam directs on strengthening healthcare efforts to ensure the celebration of Lunar New Year - Year of the Snake in 2025​ (Image from the internet)

On January 6, 2025, the Minister of healthcare of Vietnam issued Directive 01/CT-BYT on strengthening healthcare measures to ensure welcoming the Lunar New Year - Year of the Snake in 2025.

Ministry of healthcare of Vietnam directs on strengthening healthcare efforts to ensure the celebration of Lunar New Year - Year of the Snake in 2025

In Directive 01/CT-BYT, the Minister of healthcare of Vietnam instructed units under and affiliated with the Ministry of healthcare, Directors of Departments of healthcare of provinces and central-affiliated cities, and healthcare units of various sectors to develop and implement plans to strengthen healthcare measures to ensure the 2025 Lunar New Year celebration as follows:

* On the work of disease surveillance and response

- Advise provincial and city People’s Committees to reinforce direction for disease prevention and control during the 2025 Lunar New Year; mobilize resources and the participation of departments, sectors, and unions in healthcare work during the New Year.

- Continue monitoring, surveillance, early detection, and prompt handling of infectious disease outbreaks thoroughly to prevent further spread and extensive community outbreak. Increase inspection and surveillance of diseases at border crossings to detect early, isolate, and promptly handle suspected cases and infectious disease cases to prevent diseases from entering and spreading in Vietnam. Assign staff to be on duty 24/7 during the Tet holiday; direct units to develop task assignment plans and strictly implement disease reporting per conformance. Develop contingency plans to readily respond to disease scenarios under the four-on-the-spot approach; prepare sufficient chemicals, equipment, means, and personnel to meet the requirements for disease prevention and control in the area.

- Strengthen inspection, surveillance, and follow-up on the implementation of disease prevention and control efforts during the Tet holiday.

* On the work of medical examination and treatment

- Direct medical facilities in the area to organize 24/7 readiness. Ensure adequate stock of medicines, blood, infusion fluids, medical supplies, chemicals, medical equipment, and medical oxygen; prepare emergency plans for mass gatherings; arrange bed inventory, means, ready for response, treatment, and emergency services, especially for traffic accidents, fires, explosions, injuries, food poisoning, and treatment of infectious diseases during the Tet holiday. Enforce medical staff to adhere to hospital regulations, improve service attitudes, and cultivate cultural interaction with patients and their families when seeking treatment. Visit and extend New Year wishes to inpatients, particularly those in difficult circumstances, the poor, and policy beneficiaries.

- Instruct private medical facilities to plan and cooperate with public healthcare facilities in the area for healthcare work to ensure the 2025 Lunar New Year celebration; prepare necessary conditions to participate in cooperative activities upon request.

- Mobilize lawful support resources; promptly implement policies to motivate medical staff during the Tet holiday, particularly those on Tet duty.

- Develop and implement plans to inspect and supervise the implementation of medical examination and treatment at medical facilities in the area.

* On food safety work

- healthcare Departments of provinces, cities, and Food Safety Departments of Ho Chi Minh City, Food Safety Management Board of Da Nang City, Food Safety Management Board of Bac Ninh Province: Implement Plan 1751/KH-BCDTUATTP dated December 18, 2024, of the Central Intersectoral Steering Committee on Food Safety to implement work ensuring food safety for the Lunar New Year At Ty and Spring Festival Season 2025; cooperate with relevant departments and sectors to promote communication, dissemination of regulations, and knowledge about food safety for producers, businesses, and consumers during the Lunar New Year and festive season; propagate the management of food safety appropriate to local characteristics;

Promptly disclose violations of food safety regulations, commend organizations and individuals, and recognize safe food production and business locations for the community. Mobilize resources and suitable media forms to spread food safety regulations and knowledge; mobilize the entire society to participate in preventing and combating counterfeit and substandard food production and business; prevent food poisoning, promptly warn about the dangers of food safety breaches before, during, and after the Tet holiday and during the Spring Festival Season 2025.

- Strengthen intersectoral inspection and supervision to ensure food safety before, during, and after Tet, focusing on high-risk food products, food processing villages, border provinces, and major cities.

- Strictly implement reporting and statistics on food safety; report results to the Ministry of healthcare (Food Safety Department) according to the prescribed timeline.

More details can be found in Directive 01/CT-BYT dated January 6, 2025.

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