What does the Ministry of Health propose to change 5K into V2K?

05/06/2022 12:46 GMT+7

Recently, the number of cases and deaths in the country has continuously decreased. The number of new cases per day remained around 1,000, with some days falling below 900. In particular, many days our country has not recorded any deaths.

However, the World Health Organization (WHO) still emphasizes that the Covid-19 pandemic is not over. New variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus are still emerging and spreading.

In the face of a significant decrease in the number of cases, many people think that it is time to give up the 5K epidemic prevention measure. Answering at the recent regular Government press conference, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Lien Huong said that since the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic, 5K messages have been used very effectively, making a great contribution to the public. epidemic prevention and control.

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However, at present, the Ministry of Health has advised to temporarily suspend medical declarations, not to limit mass gatherings and keep distance. Thus, in fact, only mask-disinfection remains.

Getting vaccinated against Covid-19 on schedule and in full doses is very important to ensure disease prevention. Therefore, the Ministry of Health has proposed V2K (vaccine – mask – disinfection). The ministry has consulted with members of the National Steering Committee on Covid-19 prevention and control and submitted it to the Government.

However, in the draft, the Ministry of Health also stated that the 5K message will still be used if a new strain occurs that affects people’s health.

Also related to this issue, previously Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Dac Phu, former Director of the Department of Preventive Medicine, also said that first of all, it is necessary to understand the nature of 5K as non-specific preventive measures against Covid. -19 as well as other infectious diseases.

According to Assoc. Dr. Tran Dac Phu, before Covid-19 appeared, we still regularly applied the measures included in the 5K regulation to prevent other infectious diseases, especially those transmitted through respiratory and digestive tract.

For example, we still wear masks to prevent respiratory diseases. Washing hands with soap – the main disinfectant, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) reduces the risk of infectious diseases caused by respiratory and digestive diseases by more than 40%. During the application of 5K to prevent Covid-19, other infectious diseases such as influenza, hand, foot and mouth disease, food poisoning, etc. have also decreased markedly.

Therefore, Prof. Dr. Tran Dac Phu said that, even though the Covid-19 epidemic has been controlled, maintaining the above preventive measures, except for removing medical declarations, is still necessary and valuable.

“Specifically, we should still actively keep a distance from people who have symptoms of cough, fever… And vice versa, if we have these symptoms ourselves, we must take the initiative to prevent others from getting sick. This is also a matter of distance.

For well-ventilated areas, where people go to exercise, jog, etc., it is not necessary to wear a mask. However, in crowded places, closed spaces such as taking a bus… it should still be applied.

In my opinion, it needs to be applied flexibly, suitable for each condition and situation. Instead of forcing, it is necessary to advise people to implement and form good habits to not only prevent Covid-19 but also many other infectious diseases that are circulating,” emphasized Dr. Phu.

N. Huyen