Its latest success story is in the health sector. We should learn more from Vietnam on how to manage a pandemic effectively.

With 97.75 million people and a long border with China, Vietnam has just 1,438 COVID-19 cases and 35 deaths as of Dec. 25. It is one of the few countries in the world that has had huge success in its fight against the novel coronavirus.

In comparison, Indonesia has 700,097 cases and 20,847 deaths as of Dec. 25, the highest in Southeast Asia and the third highest in Asia after India and Iran.

How did Vietnam achieve this? It is amazing to see that a developing country like Vietnam can have a better health system and more effective government mechanism at a time when most developed countries are struggling to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. What were the factors that contributed to its success in controlling the pandemic?

“There are many factors for Vietnam’s success. The first one is the early response to the pandemic,” Vietnamese Ambassador to Indonesia Pham Vinh Quang said at a year-end virtual press briefing on Dec. 22 in Jakarta.

According to Ambassador Quang, Vietnam correctly predicted the impacts of the pandemic and took drastic action in early January, even before the virus had appeared in the country. Vietnam reported its first COVID-19 case on Jan. 23 and by that time, the government’s emergency plan was already in force.

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