HANOI – 18 September 2017, Dr Masaya Kato, Coordinator for Communicable Disease Group at the WHO Viet Nam Country Office, was awarded the Medal for the People's Health for his contributions to public health in Viet Nam. This is the highest award given by the Ministry of Health for significant contributions to improve the population’s health.
During his 11 years with the WHO Viet Nam Country Office, Dr Kato worked closely with numerous government departments, programmes, institutes and hospitals in the areas of communicable diseases and health security. He has been a trusted partner for the Ministry of Health, as Vice-Minister Dr. Nguyen Thanh Long confirmed at the award ceremony: “I’m deeply impressed by Dr Kato’s work. He has worked tirelessly to advise us and introduce new practices and innovations for the benefit of the Vietnamese people’s health”.
“I’m honoured to have been given the opportunity to work with the Viet Nam Ministry of Health for the past 11 years and I would like to express my sincere and deepest appreciation for your trust and close cooperation”, said Dr Kato as he received the award. His assignment initially focused on HIV prevention and control and later expanded to broader areas of communicable disease control and health security. During his time in Viet Nam, Dr Kato has seen a number of achievements and positive developments. “When I arrived in the country in 2006, only about 5000 people living with HIV had access to ART, while now in September 2017, approximately 120,000 people receive this life-saving treatment. This is a 24 fold increase in 11 years. We have seen a substantial decline of malaria cases, the steady decrease in tuberculosis incidence, the introduction of “breakthrough” treatment to cure hepatitis C, and the continuously rising coverage of routine immunization”, Dr Kato said. “These achievements stem from the dedication and hard work of Ministry of Health’s leaders, staff and health care workers at all levels”, he concluded, also acknowledging the important contributions made by development partners and thanking his WHO colleagues for the excellent collaboration over the years.
On 15 September Dr Kato was also granted a certificate of merit by the Viet Nam Authority of HIV/AIDS Control for his contributions to HIV/AIDS prevention and control in the country, and on 8 September a recognition of his achievements from the Viet Nam Society of Infectious Diseases. Dr Kato is reassigned to the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific where he will continue to support Member States to improve their capacity to prepare and respond to public health emergencies.