“One Health” provides a coordinated approach to counter emerging infectious disease threats at the interface of animal, human, and ecosystem health. This intersectoral approach requires individuals to work collaboratively at different levels of the health system, to effectively prevent and control emerging or known pandemic diseases.

On September 28, Ritu Singh, USAID/Vietnam’s Office of Health Director, attended the graduation ceremony for the 2017 Masters of Public Health class at Hanoi Medical University. The ceremony also welcomed 25 students from the 2018 class. The origin of this program comes from 2016, when USAID supported Hanoi Medical University to launch a one-year Masters of Public Health degree with a One Health orientation in collaboration with the Vietnam One Health University Network (VOHUN), Tufts University, and University of Minnesota. So far, there are 37 Masters of Public Health graduates, consisting of Vietnamese and international students.  

So What? Graduates of this program now have technical expertise on One Health. This will help Vietnam strengthen its public health system to better address serious infectious disease threats.