This event was organized by Pham Ngoc Thach Medical University, Tu Du Hospital (Ho Chi Minh City) in cooperation with the French Consulate General and the French Language Institute in Viet Nam.

            In this conference, more than 100 doctors and health professionals in Viet Nam and France discussedon four main areas of health and family medicine(improving maternal and newborn health); preventive medicine cooperation (diseases related to environmental pollution); training and research (medical training in French or in bilingual French-English); technology and forensic issues.

Reproductive health care staff for women in border areas. (Photo: Duong Ngoc / Vietnam News Agency)

            According to Dr. Gildas Tréguier, chairman of L'APPEL-Lorient (a French non-governmental organization), the purpose of the conference is to exchange experiences of cooperation between Vietnam and France in the past to solve the remaining problems, thereby, improving the quality and effectiveness of health cooperation between the two countries in the coming time.

            Specifically, in relation to the pediatrics field, the French-Vietnamese health cooperation program in 2015 will continue to conduct technical exchanges of experience among high-level medical staff with the development of multidisciplinary medical network. At the same time continue to carry out humanitarian activities dedicated to vulnerable people, special strategies for the prevention and early detection of disability. Activities to improve access to health care services in the poorest households will be implemented.

            Speaking at the meeting, Prof. Dr. Ngo Minh Xuan, Vice Rector of Pham Ngoc Thach University, said: "Over the past 40 years, Vietnam and France have successfully cooperated in many areas, especially in the field of health care and people's health."

            After the agreement of medical cooperation between the two countries in 1993, more than 2,000 doctors were trained and trained in specialties 1 and 2 at French hospitals.

            This conference looks back at the cooperation and research to find new directions in health cooperation between the two countries, especially between Ho Chi Minh City and French NGOs.

            According to data from the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research, Vietnam is the ninth country to have students studying in France, With more than 6,295 students accepted in the 2012-2013 school year, this number has been stable since 2008.