Day: November 29, 2021

Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc spoke highly of the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s coordinating role in addressing global health issues during a meeting with Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghegreyesus at WHO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on November 28.

The meeting also saw the presence of Seth Berkley, CEO of the Vaccine Alliance (GAVI), and Aurélia Nguyen, Managing Director of the COVAX Facility.

President Phuc said WHO has set healthcare standards and guidelines and provided technical support for countries in responding to public health emergencies and building capacity in coping with pandemics.

President appreciates WHO’s coordinating role in global health issues hinh anh 2

The President voiced his support for the COVAX Facility and its operators, including WHO and GAVI, in promoting equitable and timely access to COVID-19 vaccines globally. He also took the occasion to announce that Vietnam will contribute an additional 500,000 USD to the COVAX Facility, raising its total voluntary donation to the vaccine-sharing scheme to 1 million USD.

He proposed WHO, GAVI and COVAX Facility to help Vietnam enhance the capacity of its healthcare system and immunization while seeking their support for Vietnam to become a hub for m-RNA vaccine technology transfer and a vaccine production base for the Western Pacific region.

The Vietnamese leader also expected WHO to offer technical assistance for Vietnam’s home-grown COVID-19 vaccine Nano Covax to join its global clinical trial programme.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc received Chilean Minister of Health Oscar Enrique Paris Mancilla in Geneva on November 29, as both were visiting Switzerland.

As Vietnam and Chile are celebrating the 50th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties, President Phuc proposed the two sides continue coordinating closely to implement celebrations to bring about practical efficiency.

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the good relationship is an important foundation for the two countries to boost their collaboration in pandemic prevention and control, he said.

Congratulating Chile on its well control of the pandemic with a high rate of people vaccinated against COVID-19, the Vietnamese President thanked Chile for its willingness to cooperate and share vaccines with Vietnam.

With current bilateral cooperation mechanisms such as the Vietnam-Chile Free Trade Agreement that took effect in 2014, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) of which both nations are members, and the political consultation, President Phuc said that this is an important basis for the two countries to promote cooperation in the coming time. He expressed his delight that two-way trade in the first nine months of this year reached nearly 1.5 billion USD, up 59 percent over the same period last year.

Agreeing with President Phuc’s proposal on intensifying cooperation in pandemic prevention and control, Enrique Paris said that Chile is willing to collaborate and share COVID-19 vaccines with Vietnam, and boost bilateral collaboration in health.

Given Vietnam joining numerous free trade agreements, including the CPTPP to which Chile is a signatory, he suggested both sides step up cooperation to make full use of this advantage to bring about practical interests for each side.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Le Van Cong has won a silver for Vietnam at the World Para Powerlifting Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Cong was in the men’s 49kg category on Sunday against 26 other competitors. He faced world-leading athletes such as Paralympic champion Omar Qarada of Jordan, Paralympic bronze medal holder Parvin Mammadov of Azerbaijan and former Paralympic silver medallist Vladimir Balynets of Russia.

The top two spots of the event were a repeat of August’s Tokyo Paralympics between Cong and Qarada.

The event was packed with drama and it took three and a half hours of competition before the title was decided in the final lift.

With a lift of 170kg, 2017 world champion Cong entered the final round in the top position to pile the pressure onto the reigning Paralympic champion, Jordan’s Omar Qarada.

Qarada summoned all of his strength to press 174kg to win the gold – 11 years after he first won his first title.

“Sometimes I have pain, I have many things, so when I got that gold medal everything came to fruition,” Qarada told paralympic.org.

“I now want to prepare myself for Paris 2024.”

It was a momentous moment for Parmjeet Kumar whose 158kg bronze medal lift entered the history books as India’s first-ever senior medal at a World Championship.

“I feel very proud,” said Kumar who added 12kg on to his lifetime best to win the bronze.

Iraq’s Musin Al-Sudani also wrote his name into the history books with a new junior world record of 155kg, bettering his record set less than 24 hours previously in the Junior Worlds to finish in fourth place.

In his fifth time at the world championship, Cong failed to defend his title but the Vietnamese athlete was still happy with the result.

“My shoulder injury was worse after the Tokyo Paralympics,” Cong told Viet Nam News, adding that he has been taking painkillers in the run-up to the event.

“Doctors said my ligament has been torn 75 percent and I need to have surgery as soon as possible.

“However, this world championship is one of the most important events that athletes must take part in to earn points to qualify for the 2014 Paris Paralympics so I could not miss it.

“Although I couldn’t defend my title and the result is not as good as before, I am still happy because I did not target medal at all. And a silver shows my hard work and efforts have paid off. I felt really sore in every single lift.”

It is Cong’s third-world silver. He also has one gold and two records under his belt from previous events.

Cong is currently the best Vietnam’s athlete with disabilities. He is the world and Paralympic record holder with lifts of 183.5kg and 183kg, respectively.

The world silver result puts Cong in a strong position to qualify for the Paris Olympics. To ensure qualification he needs to compete in at least one international tournament each year for the next three years.

Two other Vietnamese athletes will compete next. Dang Thi Linh Phuong will take part in the women’s 50kg class while Nguyen Binh An will participate in men’s 54kg pool.

The world championship continues until December 5 with athletes from 72 countries and territories.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam’s tennis ace Ly Hoang Nam toppled British player Giles Hussey in two straight sets (6-4, 6-4) on the morning of November 29 to claim the men’s singles title of the M15 Cancun tournament in Mexico, Nhan dan reported.

This is the fourth professional tennis title in Nam’s career, following the Vietnam F5 Futures 2016, Thailand F3 Futures 2017 and most recently the M15 Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt last month.

En route to the final match in Mexico, the Vietnamese star, ranked 703rd in the ATP standings, struggled to beat US opponent Alexander Bernard 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-3 in the opening round before scoring a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 win against world no. 1341 Chad Kissell (the US) in the second round to set up a quarterfinal clash with Matic Spec.

Thanks to his excellent serve capability, the 26-year-old Slovenian caused much difficulty for Nam and won the first set 6-1. However, Nam promptly rediscovered his rhythm to seal the next two sets at 6-1, 6-3 in order to advance.

In the semi-finals, the Vietnamese ace once again came from behind to outplay another US competitor Dali Blanch (world no. 1099) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.

With the M15 Cancun Mexico triumph, Ly Hoang Nam has added 10 points to his ATP rating, alongside winnings of 2,160 USD in prize money.

Nam will play two more tournaments in Cancun as part of his Mexico journey from November 22 to December 12, before returning to Vietnam on December 13.

Source: Vietnam News Agency