Deputy Minister of Health Đỗ Xuân Tuyên (centre) led the Vietnamese delegation attending the 42nd session of the UNESCO General Conference in Paris. — Photo from the Ministry of Health

HÀ NỘI — Deputy Minister of Health Đỗ Xuân Tuyên attended the 42nd session of the UNESCO General Conference in Paris, France from November 20-22.

On the sidelines of the conference, Deputy Minister Tuyên had working sessions with the UNESCO Director General and Deputy Director General, as well as leaders of a number of participating delegations on the promotion of bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the health care area.

The 42nd session of the UNESCO General Conference opened on November 7, drawing representatives from 194 member countries, 12 associate member countries, observer countries, international organisations and non-governmental organisations.

During the session, the UNESCO General Assembly approved the programme and budget for period 2024-25 period, the human resources management strategy for the 2023 - 2027 period, and UNESCO's operational strategy for Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Participants also discussed many current urgent issues, contributing to promoting peace and sustainable development.

Particularly, on November 21, the conference passed a resolution on the list of eminent personalities and historical events in 2023-24, which includes progenitor of Vietnamese traditional medicine Hải Thượng Lãn Ông Lê Hữu Trác.

The year 2024 will mark the 300th birth anniversary of the Vietnamese talented medic. To honour his contributions and merits to Việt Nam's medicine, culture, and folklore, Việt Nam prepared a dossier and submitted it to UNESCO for recognition, which was highly evaluated by international experts.

The resolution was passed by all UNESCO members, showing the clearest affirmation of the great contributions of Vietnamese people in the fields of education, health, culture, and society, and demonstrating their spread of talent and intelligence in the international arena, he said.

Deputy Minister Tuyên emphasised that famous physician Lê Hữu Trác was a historical figure who left a treasure of great values in the fields of medicine, culture, and education.

Lê Hữu Trác (1724-1791), alias Hải Thượng Lãn Ông, hailed from the northern province of Hưng Yên.

He was not only a great physician and pharmacist but also an excellent poet and writer, and a thinker with progressive thought and profound humanitarian spirit. After passing away, he was honoured as the “Saint of medicine of Việt Nam”. 

He left a large number of works, which reflect his deep knowledge, progressive thought, and pure morality, and set a bright example of medical ethics, principles, and practices for following generations. For those reasons, he was considered the progenitor of Việt Nam's traditional medicine. 

As the year 2024 will mark the 300th birth anniversary of Lê Hữu Trác, UNESCO’s decision to commemorate the great physician is a recognition of his dedications to the medicine, literature, and culture of Việt Nam and the world.

At the session, aside from the dossier on the Vietnamese figure, UNESCO approved 52 others.

So far, UNESCO has approved resolutions honouring and commemorating the birth/death anniversaries of several Vietnamese figures, namely the 600th birth anniversary of Nguyễn Trãi (approved in 1980), the 100th birth anniversary of President Hồ Chí Minh (1990), the 250th birth anniversary of Nguyễn Du (2015), the 650th death anniversary of Chu Văn An (2019), the 200th birth anniversary of Nguyễn Đình chiểu (2021), the 250th birth and 200th death anniversaries of Hồ Xuân Hương (2021), and the 300th birth anniversary of Lê Hữu Trác (2023). — VNS