OUCRU, in conjunction with KPMG Vietnam, will serve as consultants on a new health initiative funded by the UK Government, working in collaboration with Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health (DoH) and Centre for Disease Control (HCDC), as well as leading hospitals and medical universities. The project aims to elevate the city’s healthcare workforce and medical training facilities to global standards and to expand research into new disease models and public health needs.
Professor Guy Thwaites, Director of OUCRU, shared his thoughts on the initiative: “This collaboration represents a significant step towards improving the quality of healthcare in Ho Chi Minh City. We believe that by elevating its medical training and research capabilities, we can help the city become a leading health innovation centre in the ASEAN region. We’re excited to work with KPMG Vietnam and the local healthcare sector on this transformative project.”
OUCRU’s extensive expertise in clinical and public health research, combined with KPMG Vietnam’s strengths in business and innovation consulting, forms a solid foundation for this project. Together, the two organisations aim to create a transformative strategy that will position Ho Chi Minh City as a regional hub for healthcare innovation.
Earlier this year, in August 2023, OUCRU and HCDC signed a new collaborative project agreement. The overarching aim of the project is to improve the prevention and control of infectious diseases in HCMC, especially new and emerging infectious diseases. Three core components to the project:
- Enhancing the infectious diseases diagnostic capacity within HCMC
- Improving the surveillance of infectious diseases within HCMC
- Developing new tools and expertise to model the transmission of infectious diseases within HCMC and to identify the best methods for disease control
This new initiative represents a further strengthening of the 32-year partnership between OUCRU and the Hospital for Tropical Diseases and Ho Chi Minh City’s health sector more broadly. OUCRU’s vision is to have local, regional and global impact on health by leading a locally driven research programme on infectious diseases in Southeast Asia. This project sits at the centre of that vision, helping to build local capacity to improve the public health of Vietnam.
The anticipated completion date of the project is April 2024.
