Posted: 10 March 2008
Vietnamese Prime Minister visits UCD
Ireland-Vietnam Blood-borne Virus Initiative in Hanoi announced
The Prime Minister of Vietnam, Mr Nguyen Tan Dung visited the National Virus Reference Laboratory at University College Dublin to meet scientists involved in the Ireland-Vietnam Blood-borne Virus Initiative (IVVI) and inspect the facilities on the Belfield campus. The Prime Minister was accompanied by the Minister for Overseas Development, Mr Michael Kitt TD.
The Ireland-Vietnam Blood-borne Virus Initiative (IVVI) involves a partnership between UCD and the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) in Hanoi, Vietnam. IVVI is co-funded by Irish Aid and Atlantic Philanthropies and brings Irish expertise to bear on blood-borne viral disease prevention and control in Vietnam.
Pictured right - The Prime Minister of Vietnam, Mr Nguyen Tan Dung
visiting the National Virus Reference Laboratory at University College
Dublin.
The Prime Minister was accompanied by the Minister for
Overseas
Development, Mr Michael Kitt TD (back left) and
Dr Hugh
Brady,
President of UCD, (back right).
The National Virus Reference Laboratory (NVRL) in UCD is part of the Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases (CRID). It is a leading international facility and the main diagnostic laboratory for viral diseases in Ireland. Under the direction of Professor William Hall, the NVRL carries out over 500,000 tests for infectious diseases such as HIV, hepatitis and human leukaemia viruses, each year.
Working with the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) in Hanoi, it plays a strategic role in national disease surveillance and control in Vietnam.
The objective of this initiative is to build institutional capacity and infrastructure within Vietnam for clinical and diagnostic virology which will in turn help develop public health policies in that country.
The three main blood borne viruses to be covered are: HIV, Hep B and Hep C. In the Vietnam context, HTLV human T cell leukaemia virus may also be a significant infection in certain parts of the country.
To date there is no real measure of the true levels of these infections in Vietnam and the public health interventions cannot be implemented until accurate information is obtained.
To address this, the IVVI is setting up training programmes for Vietnamese staff in diagnostic virology at the National Virus Reference laboratory here at UCD. In addition to management training, UCD has set up a virology training programme at UCD and will take two trainees per year for 4 years for a structured one-year MSc in clinical and diagnostic virology.
The project also involves construction of a sophisticated diagnostic lab containing 7 distinct fully equipped laboratories in Hanoi which will be accredited to highest European standards. On 17 March the Tanaiste and Minister for Finance, Mr Brian Cowen, will turn the sod on this purpose-built facility for the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE).
The third strand in the IVVI initiative is the conducting of a major epidemiological study of blood-borne virus infections in different regions of Vietnam. This study will involve taking 38,000 samples from six provinces across defined population groups including injecting drug users, commercial sex workers, blood transfusion patients, renal dialysis patients, university students and patients undergoing elective surgical procedures. In parallel, the study will establish training programmes in sample and demographic information collection.
The overall goals of the IVVI initiative are to establish the viral diagnostic infrastructure in Vietnam, confirm the level of blood-borne virus infections, assist in the development of public health and preventative programmes, and establish productive long-term relationship between Vietnam and Ireland in research and education in the biological sciences.
