The drill was attended by 241 delegates and health experts from Vietnam’s Ministry of Health and provincial health agencies, Laos' Ministry of Health, the China Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and local emergency health response teams from Yunnan.
This is the first time that Vietnam, China, and Laos have organised a comprehensive cross-border infectious disease emergency response exercise, covering the entire process, chain, and elements involved. The drill aimed to test and improve the coordinated emergency response capabilities of the involved countries, enhance the regional response mechanisms, and strengthen the capacity to handle key infectious disease outbreaks at the border areas.
The scenario simulated the outbreak of a new acute infectious disease at the three-country border, with activities such as detecting and reporting cases, epidemiological investigation, risk assessment, sample collection and testing, decontamination, and response termination. Experts noted that the joint drill successfully refined the coordination mechanisms for disease prevention at the border and trained essential health response skills, such as rapid response, remote mobility, and local management. It served as a proactive step to ensure public health security along the border and enhance overall preparedness for serious infectious disease outbreaks.
In addition to the practical field exercise, the programme included a static exhibition and a discussion forum, where experts exchanged experience and showcased recent achievements in building response teams, equipment, and capabilities by the China CDC, the national emergency health response teams of Yunnan, and the Yunnan plague prevention rapid response team.
