Thailand, Vietnam cooperate on health security programme

BANGKOK, January 26 (TNA) - Thailand and Vietnam Thursday signed an agreement to cooperate on health security programme before the latter issues a law covering health security for its citizens in the next two years. The agreement was signed by Public Health Minister Wittaya Buranasiri and his Vietnamese counterpart Dr. Nguyen Thi Kim Tien at the Public Health Ministry in Bangkok. Under the agreement, both countries which are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will jointly develop health security programme as well as conducting research, exchange know-how and to monitor for an outbreak of new diseases including the deadly bird flu and the severe acute respiratory syndrome. The Vietnamese government has decided to cooperate with Thailand which has already exercised the health security programme while it is going to implement it in 2014. In another development, the National Science and Technology Development Agency signed a memorandum of understanding with state and private-run agencies such as the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand and the Bangkok Mass Transit System Public Co., Ltd. to jointly develop rail transportation system in Thailand including creating more rail engineering experts. Science and Technology Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi said there is a need to develop more experts in the country as Thailand will embark on building more rail transportation systems in the next five years. (TNA)