Danish Prime Minister visits school and opens Diabetes care program in Hanoi

On 7 November 2012, Danish Prime Minister Ms. Helle Thorning-Schmidt visited Xa Dan School as the first activity during her two-day visit in Vietnam. Later on the same day, she inaugurated the opening ceremony of the Vietnam Diabetes Care Program in Hanoi.

Ms. Helle Thorning-Schmidt has recently been appointed as Champion for Education by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and the visit to Xa Dan School in Hanoi conveys a strong message from the Prime Minister that quality education for all children and youth is the key driver for growth, welfare and sustainable development in a globalized world. 

The Danish Prime Minister stressed that education should embrace everybody – rich and poor, girls and boys and people with special needs. She stressed that all countries must constantly improve their educational systems in order to meet the challenges of a globalized world. She also stressed that countries should learn and benefit from each other, also when it comes to strengthening education.

On the same day, the Prime Minister inaugurated the launch ceremony of the Vietnam Diabetes Care Program (VDCP) in Hanoi, organised by Ministry of Health and Embassy of Denmark.
The initiative is a response to the growing problem of diabetes in Vietnam where it is estimated that over five million people could have the disease but where many remain undiagnosed.

The Vietnam Diabetes Care Program is a collaboration between the Ministry of Health of Vietnam and Novo Nordisk Vietnam, a Danish healthcare company and world leader in diabetes care, which was launched through the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two parties. 

Over the next three years, the key objectives of the Vietnam Diabetes Care Program (VDCP) are to increase awareness about diabetes, improve screening for people at risk, train more physicians on diabetes management, achieve better control among treated patients and improve access to diabetes care including vulnerable populations like pregnant women and children.

To raise awareness about diabetes and screen individuals at risk for diabetes, Changing Diabetes® Village and Changing Diabetes® Vans have been set up. Changing Diabetes® Villages, one each in Ha Noi (Thong Nhat park, 6 – 14 Nov) and Ho Chi Minh City (Nguyen Du stadium, 11- 14 Nov) have been set up to commemorate World Diabetes Day on 14 Nov 2012.

For more information about the Vietnam Diabetes Care Program, follow this link.

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