{"id":47625,"date":"2025-06-12T16:45:51","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T09:45:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.oucru.org\/?p=47625"},"modified":"2026-04-14T10:59:57","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T03:59:57","slug":"who-visits-oucru-to-strengthen-collaboration-on-infectious-disease-research-and-surveillance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.oucru.org\/index.php\/2025\/06\/12\/who-visits-oucru-to-strengthen-collaboration-on-infectious-disease-research-and-surveillance\/","title":{"rendered":"WHO delegation visits OUCRU to strengthen collaboration on infectious disease research and surveillance\u00c2\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The five-member delegation included Dr Patrick Clarke Reading, Director, and Dr Michelle Wille, Outreach Coordinator, WHO Collaborating Centre<\/a> for Reference and Research on Influenza in Melbourne, Australia; Dr Belinda Louise Herring, Technical Officer for Influenza, WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific; and Mr Francis Yesurajan Inbanathan, Technical Office, and Dr Do Thi Hong Hien, Epidemiologist, WHO Vietnam.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the visit, Dr Nguy\u00e1\u00bb\u2026n Th\u00c3\u00a0nh D\u00c5\u00a9ng, Director of HTD, and Assoc Prof L\u00c3\u00aa V\u00c4\u0192n T\u00e1\u00ba\u00a5n<\/a>, Head of the Emerging Infectious Diseases Research Group<\/a> at OUCRU, presented key achievements in research, diagnostics, clinical care, and surveillance. HTD has integrated advanced hospital information systems (EMR, HIS, LIS\u00e2\u20ac\u201cPACS) to improve decision-making and patient management. \u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Dr Nguy\u00e1\u00bb\u2026n Tr\u00e1\u00bb\u008dng Duy<\/a> presents HTD\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s health information system, including EMR, HIS, and LIS-PACS<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The institutions also shared their experience working with the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health and the Ministry of Health on national immunisation campaigns, rapid outbreak response, and efforts to strengthen Vietnam\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s national surveillance systems.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past years, OUCRU and HTD have supported the national response to local outbreaks, including COVID-19, Mpox, avian influenza, measles, hand-foot-mouth disease, conjunctivitis, and respiratory infections. In May 2025, OUCRU conducted genomic sequencing of hospitalised COVID-19 cases and identified the NB.1.8.1 variant, reported for the first time in Vietnam. Results were delivered within 24\u00e2\u20ac\u201c72 hours, providing critical support for timely surveillance and response.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Nguy\u00e1\u00bb\u2026n Th\u00c3\u00a0nh D\u00c5\u00a9ng emphasised: “At HTD and OUCRU, we are committed to continuous technical advancement, not only to deliver better care, but also to generate research that directly informs diagnostics, treatment, and disease control strategies for Vietnam and the region.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Assoc Prof L\u00c3\u00aa V\u00c4\u0192n T\u00e1\u00ba\u00a5n<\/a> added: “Collaboration with WHO will help accelerate technology transfer and translation of research into action, particularly in tackling emerging infectious diseases.”\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Technical discussions between WHO delegates and researchers at OUCRU\u00c2\u00a0<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Following the discussions, the WHO delegation visited the advanced laboratories and research facilities at HTD and OUCRU. The delegation commended the institutions\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 research leadership, laboratory facilities and strong collaborative networks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153HTD and OUCRU\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cutting-edge capabilities in genomics and the newly developed immunological assays are valuable tools that can support countries in the region in identifying novel and unknown emerging threats,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Dr Patrick Reading.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Belinda Herring shared: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153OUCRU is a fantastic facility and a great resource for the region. It will be great to link with the institute for training and capacity building opportunities in the future.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This visit marks a positive step forward in the collaboration between OUCRU, HTD and WHO, supporting efforts to strengthen regional capacity for infectious disease surveillance and response. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU) and the Hospital for Tropical Diseases (HTD) in Ho Chi Minh City recently welcomed a delegation from the World Health Organisation (WHO) as part of efforts to strengthen technical collaboration in infectious disease preparedness and response.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":47626,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[79,144],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-ho-chi-minh"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.oucru.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.oucru.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.oucru.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.oucru.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.oucru.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47625"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/test.oucru.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47625\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55452,"href":"https:\/\/test.oucru.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47625\/revisions\/55452"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.oucru.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.oucru.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.oucru.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.oucru.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}