China, Laos, and Vietnam ramp up collaboration regarding cross-border infectious diseases

On Wednesday, officials and experts from China, Laos, and Vietnam highlighted the importance of enhancing emergency response capabilities for emerging infectious disease outbreaks across borders.

The remarks were made at a joint emergency drill for the prevention and control of cross-border infectious diseases on Tuesday and Wednesday in Jiangcheng county, Southwest China's Yunnan province.

The drill simulated an outbreak of a newly emerging acute infectious disease in the border region between the three nations. It included practical drills, static displays, and discussion sessions.

Sun Yang, deputy director of the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration, said that the drill was well-considered in terms of disease selection, scenario setting, and drill subjects, reflecting professionalism and a scientific approach.

Shi Guoqing, director of the Health Emergency Center of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, echoed similar sentiments, stating that the drill has clear objectives, testing the capabilities for early detection, rapid response, and international collaboration in managing border epidemics.

It was the first time that the three countries had conducted a comprehensive, end-to-end, and all-element emergency drill for cross-border infectious diseases.

Nguyen Thi My Ha, an official from the Vietnam Administration of Disease Prevention, said that the drill was of great significance for improving the information sharing, coordination, and cooperation mechanisms among China, Laos, and Vietnam.

Over the past few years, the neighboring nations have coordinated on working meetings, seminars, training, and exercises to focus on epidemic monitoring, information sharing, and border health quarantine, she added.

Such a joint prevention and control mechanism could help us contain outbreaks at the border areas in the early stage, according to Viengsavanh Kittiphong, deputy director of the Department of Communicable Disease Control under Laos' Ministry of Health.

She noted that the coordination mechanisms between China and Laos had improved and become more efficient, with more timely data sharing, leading to faster responses in dealing with outbreaks, as evidenced by the handling of diseases such as COVID-19, malaria, dengue fever, measles, and rubella in recent years.

At present, the disease control departments of Yunnan province and its neighboring provinces in Laos and Vietnam should focus on the prevention and control of chikungunya, dengue fever, plague, and other diseases, deepen joint prevention and control mechanisms for major infectious disease outbreaks, and improve measures such as regular consultations, information sharing, and joint responses, Sun added.