Speeches Shim
When USAID began supporting Vietnam in its HIV response, it was easy to find new HIV cases as the unidentified numbers were higher. However, as Vietnam now has a strong network of community supporters that provide HIV outreach, prevention, and testing services, it is difficult to find and diagnose the remaining HIV cases in Hanoi and to achieve epidemic control. On July 5, the USAID Sustainable HIV and Tuberculosis Response from Technical Assistance (SHIFT) project partnered with Pluto (a group of community supporters in Hanoi that provide HIV outreach, prevention, and testing services) and Blued (Vietnam’s most popular dating application among men who have sex with men) to host the “Beyond the Limit” event.
A fixed dose combination of Tenofovir–Lamivudine–
Lingzhi mushrooms grown in Quang Nam province are known for their medicinal properties, which has led to people overharvesting them in the wild and putting pressure on the natural ecosystem. One way to reduce this pressure is to locally grow the mushrooms. However, until recently, local communities lacked cultivation skills to grow these mushrooms in their homes. To address this and reduce wild mushroom collection, the USAID Green Annamites project collaborated with the Quang Nam Lingzhi Company (QN Lingzhi Co.) to strengthen local communities’ mushroom cultivation and harvesting techniques, set up a Lingzhi growing house, and establish 19 Lingzhi growing collaborative groups with 182 members (nearly 50 percent are female).
On July 21-22, USAID’s Improving Access, Curriculum and Teaching in Medical Education and Emerging Diseases (IMPACT-MED) Alliance trained 30 provincial and district healthcare workers (7 male, 23 female) in Cao Bang province to enhance their IPC capacity. The training provided an opportunity for health workers in the province to learn about the latest information about COVID-19 in Vietnam and around the world, as well as the current Ministry of Health guidelines on surveillance, treatment, and diagnosis of COVID-19 cases. The training was followed by a technical assistance visit to Cao Bang Provincial General Hospital on July 23 to review the hospital’s preparedness activities including screening, quarantine, disinfection, and personal protective equipment’s stockpile and use.
Vietnam’s business community has been hit hard by COVID-19. Supply chains have been disrupted and many businesses, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and businesses dependent on exports, are suffering from revenue loss, suspension of operations, and staff cutbacks. On July 24, the USAID Linkages for Small and Medium Enterprises (USAID LinkSME) project and MPI organized a conference on “Supporting Vietnamese Enterprises to Develop Sustainable Value Chains” in Hanoi, which was co-chaired by the Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dzung and USAID/Vietnam Mission Director Michael Greene. Nearly 400 participants learned about lead firms’ expectations and requirements; and discussed how enterprises can become more resilient to sudden changes in supply chains, actively seize new market opportunities, and enhance production capability.
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