Day: April 5, 2024

HCM City: The Go Mongolia Roadshow 2024 took place in Ho Chi Minh City on April 5 as part of the southern metropolis’ tourism festival, showcashing the Mongolian culture, people, and potential for cooperation with Vietnam.

Organised by Mongolia’s Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Tourism Association, the programme featured representatives from over 10 Mongolian and approximately 40 Vietnamese travel companies.

Speaking at the event, Javzandulam Tumuruya, third secretary at the Mongolian Embassy, noted that during Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh’s state visit to Vietnam last November, the two governments signed a mutual visa exemption agreement, facilitating bilateral tourism cooperation.

She expressed her hope that through the roadshow, Vietnamese citizens will gain more information about the Mongolian history, culture, art, and tourism, and that cooperation between the sides’ tourism organisations will continue to thrive.

At the programme, representatives fro
m Mongolian Airlines announced a plan to open an Ulaanbaatar-Ho Chi Minh City flight route in November. Vietnamese and Mongolian tourism enterprises, meanwhile, discussed opportunities for partnerships and the opening of tourism routes between the two countries.

The event also featured traditional music performances, cuisine and beverages of Mongolia.

According to Nguyen Xuan Hanh, Honorary Consul of Mongolia in the city, this year, the mutual visa exemption agreement came into effect, with the establishment of direct flights creating significant opportunities for bilateral economic cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.

As per the embassy, there were 1,500 Vietnamese tourists visiting Mongolia in 2002, rising to over 2,000 in 2023. The respective figures for the numbers of Mongolians coming to Vietnam in the years were over 2,000 and over 15,000./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: Hundreds of thousands of people will be screened for cardiovascular and chronic kidney diseases through AI platforms this year, and over 20,000 patients will be advised to undergo testing to assess chronic kidney disease.

This is the aim of the “CAREME” – Cardiovascular, Kidney, and Metabolic Health Care Programme, which was launched by the Vietnam Young Physicians’ Association at the National Hospital of Endocrinology in Hanoi on April 5, to commemorate World Health Day (April 7) and World Kidney Day (March 14).

Ha Anh Duc, head of the Office of the Ministry of Health and Chairman of the Vietnam Young Physicians’ Association (VYPA), said: ‘Among non-communicable diseases, chronic kidney disease is a progressive condition with a high prevalence rate, often undiagnosed and insufficiently addressed.”

According to Duc, this imposed a burden on patients, families, society, as well as the national healthcare system.

However, the rate of missed diagnosis of chronic kidney disease remained very high, espe
cially in the early stages due to atypical symptoms, with only about 4.5-15.5% of stage 3 chronic kidney disease patients being diagnosed.

The missed diagnosis rate was particularly high among high-risk groups such as those with hypertension and diabetes.

Thus, the “CAREME” programme aims to strengthen and sustain the system of cardiovascular, kidney and metabolic health care through early disease detection, improving quality standards in disease management, enhancing clinical outcomes, and reducing healthcare burdens in Vietnam.

The programme supported screening platforms and organised health check-ups and disease screening for 1,000 people at risk of cardiovascular and chronic kidney diseases at the event.

Additionally, it provided healthcare software installation and chronic disease management for hundreds of people.

The programme of the Young Vietnamese Physicians’ Association and its partners will focus on mobilising community participation, specialised units, and organisations to collectively enhan
ce diagnostic capabilities, improve treatment quality, and manage non-communicable chronic diseases through the deployment of digital tools.

It is estimated that there are over 8.7 million adults suffering from chronic kidney disease, accounting for 12.8% of the population in Vietnam.

Alongside this, the economic cost related to the treatment of chronic kidney disease could amount to billions of dollars each year, accounting for 2.4 – 7.5% of the nation’s annual healthcare expenditure, with particularly high costs for dialysis.

In Vietnam, in 2019, the management costs of chronic kidney disease exceeded the average GDP per capita, with dialysis costs being four times the costs of treating early-stage chronic kidney disease. Early diagnosis and treatment of chronic kidney disease, as well as slowing down the progression of kidney function decline, will bring significant long-term economic benefits while also reducing the burden on the healthcare sector.

Currently, there are over 400 artificial kidney units
in the country, providing dialysis services to around 30,000 end-stage kidney disease patients each year, yet only meeting 30% of the nationwide demand for dialysis services./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency