Background The COVID-19 pandemic has hit all corners of the world, challenging governments to act promptly in controlling the spread of the pandemic. Due to limited resources and inferior technological capacities, developing countries including Vietnam have faced many challenges in combating the pandemic. Since the first cases were detected on 23 January 2020, Vietnam has undergone a 3-month fierce battle to control the outbreak with stringent measures from the government to mitigate the adverse impacts. In this study, we aim to give insights into the Vietnamese government’s progress during the first three months of the outbreak. Additionally, we relatively compare Vietnam’s response with that of other Southeast Asia countries to deliver a clear and comprehensive view on disease control strategies. Methods The data on the number of COVID-19 confirmed and recovered cases in Vietnam was obtained from the Dashboard for COVID-19 statistics of the Ministry of Health ( https://ncov.vncdc.gov.vn/ ). The review on Vietnam’s country-level responses was conducted by searching for relevant government documents issued on the online database ‘Vietnam Laws Repository’ ( https://thuvienphapluat.vn/en/index.aspx ), with the grey literature on Google and relevant official websites. A stringency index of government policies and the countries’ respective numbers of confirmed cases of nine Southeast Asian countries were adapted from the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker ( https://www.bsg.ox.ac.uk/research/research-projects/coronavirus-government-response-tracker ). All data was updated as of 24 April 2020. Results Preliminary positive results have been achieved given that the nation confirmed no new community-transmitted cases since 16 April and zero COVID-19 – related deaths throughout the 3-month pandemic period. To date, the pandemic has been successfully controlled thanks to the Vietnamese government’s prompt, proactive and decisive responses including mobilization of the health care systems, security forces, economic policies, along with a creative and effective communication campaign corresponding with crucial milestones of the epidemic’s progression. Conclusions Vietnam could be one of the role models in pandemic control for low-resource settings. As the pandemic is still ongoing in an unpredictable trajectory, disease control measures should continue to be put in place in the foreseeable short term.

Background Vietnam applied strict quarantine measures to mitigate the rapid transmission of the SARS-COV-2 virus. Central questions were how the COVID-19 pandemic affected health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of the Vietnamese general population, and whether there is any difference in HRQOL among people under different quarantine conditions. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted during 1 April– 30 May 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak in Vietnam. Data was collected via an online survey using Google survey tool. A convenient sampling approach was employed, with participants being sorted into three groups: people who were in government quarantine facilities; people who were under self-isolation at their own place; and the general population who did not need enforced quarantine. The Vietnamese EQ-5D-5L instrument was used to measure HRQOL. Differences in HRQOL among people of isolation groups and their socio-demographic characteristics were statistically tested. Results A final sample was made of 406 people, including 10 persons from government quarantine facilities, 57 persons under self-isolation at private places, and the rest were the general population. The mean EQ-VAS was reported the highest at 90.5 (SD: 7.98) among people in government quarantine facilities, followed by 88.54 (SD: 12.24) among general population and 86.54 (SD 13.69) among people in self-isolation group. The EQ-5D-5L value was reported the highest among general population at 0.95 (SD: 0.07), followed by 0.94 (SD: 0.12) among people in government quarantine facilities, and 0.93 (SD: 0.13) among people who did self-isolation. Overall, most people, at any level, reported having problems with anxiety and/or depression in all groups. Conclusion While there have been some worries and debates on implementing strict quarantine measures can hinder people’s quality of life, Vietnam showed an opposite tendency in people’s HRQOL even under the highest level of enforcement in the prevention and control of COVID-19.

This study aimed to examine the association between chronic pancreatitis (CP) and cancer incidence and mortality among the Korean population. Based on a cancer-free cohort of 8,317,616 individuals between 2002 and 2010, a matched cohort study was conducted, including 10,899 patients with CP, matched for sex and age with 32,697 individuals without CP. The case and control groups were followed up until the date of onset of cancer or death or the end of follow-up date (December 31, 2018). Cox proportional hazards regression was performed to assess the risk of cancer incidence and mortality. Compared to the control group, patients with CP had a higher risk of all cancers with a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.2 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.1–1.3]. CP was associated with an increased risk of esophageal cancer (HR 3.9, 95% CI 1.8–8.5) and pancreatic cancer (HR 3.9, 95% CI 2.7–5.5) and a decreased risk of colorectal cancer (HR 0.7, 95% CI 0.5–0.9). Regarding cancer mortality, patients with CP had a 1.2-fold risk of all cancer mortality (95% CI 1.1–1.4), compared with the control group. Patients with CP had a higher risk of death from esophageal cancer (HR 3.5, 95% CI 1.5–8.0) and pancreatic cancer (HR 3.3, 95% CI 2.3–4.7) but had a lower risk of death due to stomach cancer (HR 0.4, 95% CI 0.2–0.8). Patients with CP had a higher risk for both incidence and mortality of all cancer types, especially pancreatic and esophageal cancers, compared with the sex- and age-matched control group.

INTRODUCTION Smoking behavior can change with time and lead to different health outcomes. This study explored the trajectory of smoking and its relationship with cancer incidence and mortality among Korean male adults. METHODS We used 2002–2018 data from the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS). Smoking status was repeatedly measured in four waves of general health examinations provided by the NHIS between 2002 and 2009. Cancer incidence and mortality were tracked from 2010 to 2018. Trajectory analysis was used to identify the patterns of smoking. The hazard ratio was calculated using Cox proportional regression models. RESULTS For the 2448548 men (≥20 years), 137788 cases of cancers and 41146 cancer deaths were found. We identified six trajectory groups: never smokers, former smokers, new current smokers, decreasing light smokers, steady moderate smokers, and steady heavy smokers. All smoking groups had an increased risk of cancer. The steady heavy smokers showed higher cancer incidence and mortality rate than the steady non-smokers (hazard ratio, HR=1.53; 95% CI: 1.49–1.58 and HR=2.64; 95% CI: 2.50–2.79, respectively). The cancer-specific analysis showed that the larynx and lung cancer incidence and mortality rate of the smoking group were higher than in never smokers. CONCLUSIONS Smoking, even at low doses, increases the risk of most cancers in men. Quitting or reducing smoking, especially at a young age, can lower cancer incidence and mortality. This study may provide more objective results on the relationship between smoking and cancer, because smoking behavior was examined at multiple time points.