Trust receives award from Vietnam

Mark Walport, Director of the Wellcome Trust, travelled to Vietnam in September 2004 to receive an award from the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, in recognition of the Trust’s support for pioneering work being carried out at the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Vietnam.

Part of the Wellcome Trust South-east Asia Major Overseas Programme, the Unit, led by Jeremy Farrar, has been involved in numerous studies of malaria, typhoid, dengue, TB meningitis, tetanus and other diseases affecting the region. The Unit’s work has provided significant health benefits to local people.

The Unit also played a key role in the region’s outbreak of avian flu in 2004. Because of its high-quality clinical and laboratory facilities, it was used to treat patients infected with the H5N1 strain of influenza, enabling valuable information to be gathered on the clinical impact of the virus.

Working closely with the Hospital for Tropical diseases, the Unit has been active in Vietnam since 1991 and has always worked closely with the Vietnamese authorities. In 2004, a new adult intensive care unit was opened at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, jointly funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Vietnamese government.