The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has decided to provide Vietnam with US $15 million to help in contagious disease control.
The non-refundable aid is part of a nearly US $39 million project for the fight against contagious diseases in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia
State Bank of Vietnam Governor Le Duc Thuy said at the signing ceremony in Hanoi on April 7 that Vietnam has also received US $450,000 in aid from the World Health Organisation for the fight. The Vietnamese Government has committed US $4.55 million to the project.
The project aims to strengthen the national epidemic surveillance and response system, increase preventive measures for high-risk communities and promote co-operation among the target countries in the fight.
The plan is for the aid to be deployed in 15 provinces and cities and four epidemeology institutes for four years to help the Government achieve its public healthcare strategies for the first and second decades of the 21st century
With over 3.5 million people infected with contagious diseases every year, Vietnam is among the world's high-risk countries.