Australia-Vietnam Laboratory Partnership Program
Objectives:
To strengthen the capacity of Vietnamese microbiology laboratories in the animal and human health sectors to:
- Diagnose infectious diseases, particularly animal and human H5N1 infections, by improving the efficiency and capacity of existing laboratories to perform reliable test procedures of samples from both animals and humans in a timely manner; and
- Improve the quality, reliability and safety of microbiological laboratory testing more generally in the longer term.
Australian Contribution: A$1,800,000
Total cost: A$1,800,000
Duration: February 2007 – December 2009
Location: Hanoi, Nha Trang and Hochiminh City
Support Components:
1. Human Health Component – Partnership between the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory and Nha Trang Pasteur Institute
This component aims at improving the laboratory capacity of Nha Trang Pasteur Institute with particular emphasis on the detection of human cases of avian influenza. It is expected the activity will translate into other areas of diagnostic virology, with benefits for both laboratories.
2. Animal Health Component – Partnership between the Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Vietnamese Department of Animal Health and the National Institute for Veterinary Research
This component builds on a collaboration between the Australian and Vietnamese laboratories with the primary objective to increase the capacity of the Vietnamese laboratories to isolate and identify disease agents from animal disease outbreaks and to ensure that the laboratories are able to quickly identify these emerging and re-emerging disease agents. The program is expected to have benefits for both Vietnam and Australia.
3. Monitoring and Evaluation Component
Overall program management and technical oversight by AusAID in coordination with Australian Departments of Health and Ageing (DoHA), Agriculture, Fishery and Forestry (DAFF), and Vietnamese Ministries of Health (MoH), Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD)
Outcomes:
- Improved technical capacity within Vietnam’s peak human and animal health laboratories through the establishment of collegial partnerships with the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory and Australian Animal Health Laboratory.
- Strengthened communication/linkages between the human and animal health components throughout the Program implementation.
Executing Agencies:
Human Health Component
Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory (VIDRL)
Program Coordinator: Dr Chris Birch, Senior Scientist
Phone (61 3) 9342 2626
Fax (61 3) 9342 2666
Email: chris.birch@mh.org.au
Address: 10 Wreckyn Street
North Melbourne, 3051, Victoria, Australia.
Animal Health Component
Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL)
Program Coordinator: Dr Chris Morrissy, Diagnostic Virologist
Phone (61 3) 5227 5000
Fax (61 3) 5227 5555
Email: chris.morrissy@csiro.au
PMB 24 Geelong 3213, Australia.
Vietnamese Counterparts:
- Ministry of Health
- Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
AusAID Contact:
Ms Nguyen Thu Hang
Activity Manager
No. 8 Dao Tan, Ba Dinh, Hanoi
Tel.: 84 4 8317754/55 ext 171
Fax: 84 4 8317706
Email: hang.nguyen@dfat.gov.au
2008
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