Italy-funded health centre launched in Hue

Thua Thien-Hue (VNA) - A medical lab specialising in respiratory diseases was put
into operation with funding from the Italian government in central Thua Thien-Hue
province on Mar. 18.

The lab at the Carlo Urbani Centre, built at a cost of 840,000 EUR, meets
Biological Safety Level 3, allowing tests on highly dangerous viruses such as
those causing Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), bird flu H5N1 and
tuberculosis.

Dr. Le Van An, head of the Microoganism Department of the Hue Medicine and
Pharmaceuticals University , said the lab, the second of its kind in Vietnam
, is very useful for the country's fight against infectious diseases.

In addition to testing and carrying out research, the centre, which is named after
Italian doctor Carlo Urbani, an expert of the World Health Organisation, who
diagnosed the first SARS victims in Vietnam in spring 2003 and later died of the
disease in Thailand , will also serve as a training facility for Vietnamese
physicians.

According to the Italian embassy in Vietnam , the construction of the centre is
part of Italy 's cooperation programme for the fight against respiratory diseases
in Southeast Asia and Vietnam in particular.

The embassy also said that the Italian Government has approved a 1 million EUR aid
to train medical workers and the building of an emergency room at the centre.
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