On June 3rd, 2020, the first part of the package including 2,000 copies of the Nosocomial Infection Control (NIC) Manual were handed over to CRH by JICA Vietnam Office.
With technical inputs from JICA experts, CRH’s Department of Infection Control has developed this "NIC Manual", hoping to improve the infection control activities of the Cho Ray Vietnam - Japan Friendship Hospital (CRH II) which is planned to be established in the coming time and 21 provincial hospitals in the Southern region, which are under CRH’s guidance and support.
Cover of the “Nosocomial infection control manual”
JICA has been supporting CRH to strengthen patient safety management, multi-professional approach and infection control through the project for “Improvement of Hospital Management Competency” targeting at patient-oriented and high-quality medical services. The above-mentioned support also helps to improve the hospital management capabilities that the project is aiming for.
In August 2019, in order to strengthen NIC capacity of CRH, the JICA project provided training on usage of personal protective equipment (PPE) to doctors and nurses of the hospital. Furthermore, just before the first confirmed patient of COVID-19 was admitted to CRH in January 2020, JICA experts had provided materials and conducted training sessions on NIC at CRH.
Historically, Vietnam has been exposed to a variety of emerging infectious diseases, and therefore since 2006, JICA has been supporting National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) and the Ho Chi Minh Pasteur Institute (PIHCMC) with the installation and strengthening of biosafety level-three laboratories (BSL-3) that enable safe handling of these highly hazardous pathogens. Besides, JICA has also been supporting these institutes to strengthen their capacities of laboratory diagnosis for infectious pathogens. Based on those supports, NIHE and PIHCMC are actively testing COVID-19 these days.
Under the ongoing Project for “Capacity Development for Medical Laboratory Network on Biosafety and Examination of Highly Hazardous infectious Pathogens”, JICA experts are working with NIHE and PIHCMC to strengthen the examination capabilities and collaboration network of provincial CDCs in Vietnam.
The support to strengthen capacity of laboratory diagnosis for infectious pathogens is to further enhance these activities as well as COVID-19 testing capacity of Vietnam./.