The meeting came following the recent visit of President Nguyen Xuan Phuc to WHO headquarters.
Dr. Mariangela Simao, on behalf of the WHO Director-General highly appreciated the cooperation of the Vietnamese Government in the field of health care and promotion of innovation, especially from young people such as the inventors of mobile isolation helmet (Vihelm) in finding new solutions to protect people's health amid the current challenging COVID-19 pandemic.
WHO also applauded the intention of the Vihelm team to participate in the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) - an initiative proposed by Costa Rica and WHO, and currently coordinated by this organization.
The aim of C-TAP is to ensure timely and equitable access to COVID-19 prevention tools and products through the open sharing of technological know-how and patents.
Upon addressing the meeting, Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen said that Vietnam welcomes WHO's C-TAP initiative to reinforce international solidarity to effectively respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The C-TAP will promote science and technology initiatives in COVID-19 prevention and control and honor the global solidarity of the countries participating in the Solidarity Call to Action with the aim of attracting inventors and technology companies as a way of contributing to research projects and joint efforts to cope with the global COVID-19 pandemic.
In recent times, many innovations have been developed and applied in Vietnam, including the initiative on mobile isolation helmet by young Vietnamese inventors. Vihelm is a portable respiratory protection air purifier.
The Vihelm team has shared product designs for free and is ready to support technology transfer through C-TAP to facilitate access to Vihelm technology against COVID-19.
The team's contribution shows the international solidarity against COVID-19, which is welcomed by both WHO and the Ministry of Health of Vietnam.
Deputy Minister Do Xuan Tuyen expressed his belief that with the coordination of WHO and the active participation of countries, inventors and scientists , C-TAP will become more and more popular along with many applied scientific research and practical patent products in order to join hands in combating the pandemic.
The Deputy Minister also affirmed Vietnam's readiness to join C-TAP to share open inventions and transfer technology in global response to the COVID-19 pandemic and other diseases.
