Vietnam receives post-pandemic help from UK, UNICEF

The British Embassy in Hanoi and UNICEF have handed over life-saving equipment worth £500,000 (US$602,400) to assist the recovery of Vietnam's health system.

The equipment, funded by the U.K. government and delivered through UNICEF, includes 500 patient vital signs monitors and 500 syringe pumps.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Health, which received the equipment, will soon distribute them to hospitals and health facilities in need nationwide, the embassy said in a statement on Thursday.

Iain Frew, British Ambassador to Vietnam, said: "I hope this medical equipment shows both the U.K.'s long-term and practical as well as moral support to Vietnamese patients and medical doctors in most vulnerable areas to overcome hardships, particularly in health. We will continue to cooperate closely with the Ministry of Health to strengthen and support resilient health systems and services for Vietnam."

UNICEF Vietnam OIC Representative, Ziad Nabulsi said: "The equipment supported by the U.K. government will contribute greatly to the ongoing efforts to keep Vietnam safe from the Covid-19 outbreak as well as to strengthen its health system post-Covid."

During the pandemic, the U.K. was one of the initial countries that donated vaccines to Vietnam, with over two million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines delivered.