Vietnam COVID-19 Emergency Response Project

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The situation on COVID-19 is evolving quickly in Vietnam and the Government has been active on the preparedness and response fronts. Viet Nam was among the first countries hit by the COVID-19 epidemic. The first case was confirmed as early as January 23rd, 2020. Various strong mitigation measures have been applied with participation of all related sectors, health, police, army, and local authorities. As of May 30, 2020, Viet Nam has reported 328 cases and no death; half of them were imported cases from China, South Korea, Europe and the US. The global COVID-19 outbreak has had a significant negative impact on Viet Nam’s economy, which already suffers from structural vulnerabilities. Immediate impacts are being felt in the movement of foreign exchange rate, commodity prices and inflation rate. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 3.8 percent (year-on-year) in Q1 2020 - the slowest rate of growth since the first quarter of 2009.Laboratory capacities at national and subnational levels need to be strengthened to expand diagnostic testing of COVID-19. Currently, there are more than 120 laboratories who can provide SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic test using Realtime RT-PCR techniques in Vietnam but only 65 of them can provide confirmed testing. The maximum capacity of the laboratories is 27,000 tests and 14,300 confirmed tests per day. Looking ahead, with the complicated progress of COVID-19 epidemic worldwide and to better response for the new wave of the epidemic in the future, the laboratories need support to improve their capacities to gradually use the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 by serological techniques to assess community immunity, and to assess the sensitivity of molecular methods has been applied to give the most comprehensive picture of the CoV-19 pandemic and the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) is the leading public health agency and plays a crucial role in diagnosis, testing and doing research on COVID-19 epidemic. The bio-safety laboratories of the Institute were constructed in 2007, that need to be upgraded and equipped to respond to the emerging demand for diagnosis and surveillance of the COVID-19 epidemic. POLYVAC, the Center for Vaccines and Biomedical products Research and Production, who has more than 25 year-experience in vaccine development, has planned to study and to develop COVID-19 vaccines and diagnosis quick test kits for COVID-19. The Center also needs emergent support to escalate their capacity in research and development to address the country’s needs in diagnostic and testing. This proposed project is prepared under the global framework of the World Bank Group (WBG) COVID-19 Response financed under Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility (PEF) insurance window, to support the country’s COVID-19 response in Viet Nam. The National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) and Center for Research and Production of Vaccines and Biologicals (POLYVAC) are the main beneficiaries of the project. With their roles as leading institutions for public health and research for vaccines and test kits in Vietnam, the project supports will directly contribute to improve the country’s capacity to detect and respond to the threats posed by COVID-19 pandemic. The support then can be expanded nation-wide through the country’s public health network. The Project is planned to be implemented from July 2020 to January 2021. The project components and activities under each component are designed to improve the capacities of surveillance and diagnostics for COVID-19. The project will comprise three components:Component 1. Strengthening surveillance and testing capacities [US$4.66 million]: This component would provide immediate support to Viet Nam to respond to COVID-19. There are three sub-components as follows: • Sub-component 1.1. Strengthening the capacity of the bio-safety laboratories system in the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology. This sub-component would support NIHE to (i) provide equipment to its existing laboratory system in its campus in line with BSL-2 and BSL-3 regulatory requirements ; (ii) develop the Standard of Procedures (SOPs) of the new system; and (iii) train the technicians and staff on the new SOPs. These investments will help 24 laboratories retain BSL-2 and four laboratories retain BSL-3.• Sub-component 1.2. Assessing and strengthening the capacity of the laboratory systems nation-wide in response to the COVOD-19 epidemic. This sub-component would support NIHE to (i) assess the testing capacity and bio-safety conditions of about 200 laboratories involved in COVID-19 surveillance and testing, which reside in hospitals and the Centers for Disease Control at the provincial level; (ii) provide technical support and training on testing techniques, laboratory bio-safety, and quality assurance for 600 technicians and laboratory staff at provincial level; and (iii) carry out external quality assessment at the provincial laboratories.NIHE will conduct a comprehensive assessment of infrastructure, equipment, technical capacities, quality and safety, etc., in 200 laboratories in Vietnam. Results from the assessment will be used to develop training packages and development strategies for the provinces. External quality assessment will be followed to examine if the laboratories have met the quality requirement and support the laboratories for their continuous quality improvement. • Sub-component 1.3. Evaluating community immunity with COVID-19. This sub-component would support NIHE to evaluate the community immunity with COVID 19 for epidemic forecasting and a foundation for pandemic prevention, surveillance and response strategies. The community study immunity will be conducted on a sample of at least 6,000 population, using serology tests to detect SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in serum or plasma components of blood. Component 2. Strengthening research capacities of COVID-19 vaccines and diagnostic test kits [US$1.23 million]This component will provide POLYVAC with equipment for research of COVID-19 vaccines and test kits. It is expected that the new equipment will improve significantly the capacity of POLYVAC for research of new vaccine and quick diagnostic test kits to help the country to be better prepared for the new wave of COVID-19 epidemic in the future. Component 3. Project Management, Monitoring, Evaluation and Communication [US$0.28 million]This component would also finance evaluation of the COVID-19 risk communication activities in Vietnam; and production of a comprehensive documentary on COVID-19 response for further communication and lesson learnt generation. It would also support project coordination, financial management, environmental and social management, monitoring and evaluation of project, including training in monitoring and evaluation, travel of staff to project sites, evaluation workshops, and development of an action plan for M&E.

FY17 - Health

World Bank Group

Project

Rail, Government