Defence

Strategy Group

Joining forces to combat malaria

LTCOL Bob Cooper (AMI, Brisbane foreground) working at Truong Xuan Commune in central Vietnam. Vietnamese officers and soldiers are working alongside LTCOL Cooper in the field laboratory where they are identifying mosquitoes responsible for malaria transmission.

By Andy Anderson

Australia and Vietnam's joint effort to combat the effects of malaria on the military is winning international recognition.

The latest results of the Army Malaria Institute's cooperative work with the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) will shortly be published in an internationally renowned journal.

The Vietnam Australia Defence Malaria Project (VADMP) has passed many milestones since 2000, in terms of both scientific research, and the two countries' defence relationship.

The Army Malaria Institute (AMI) and Strategy Group's International Policy Division coordinate Australia's contribution to VADMP.

In 1998, AMI Director, Professor Karl Rieckmann led a delegation to Vietnam. They discussed the development of a cooperative program between the ADF and VPA on malaria issues. Both countries saw the field of medicine as an appropriate way of furthering a defence relationship between Australia and Vietnam.

A memorandum of understanding for a collaborative project on malaria control was signed in Hanoi in March 2000. International Policy Division funds the VADMP through the Defence Cooperation Program. Current funding is approximately $500,000 per year.

The project is designed to improve malaria control measures in the military forces of both countries through various training and research activities. This program was the first joint health activity between the VPA and another country.

SGT Hamish Barbour (AMI, Brisbane) working alongside LTCOL (Technical) Nguyen Dang Kim (Military Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Hanoi) in testing antimalarial drugs using in vitro techniques.

International Policy Division works closely with the Army Malaria Institute on this project, recognising it is an important practical way to cement the Australia-Vietnam defence relationship, build closer working ties between the two countries' senior officers and produce research that assists the ADF in dealing with malaria - historically a major cause of non-combat casualties in tropical areas.

Substantial progress has been made in achieving the project's objectives. Some of the initial findings are now being published in respected international journals. Shortly a paper on the treatment of falciparum malaria will be published in the journal "Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene".

In March 2004, during a visit to Canberra by his Vietnamese counterpart, the Minister for Defence, Senator Hill, announced that the collaborative project would be extended for a further 5 years. The collaboration is to be expanded to include studies relating to the more effective control of dengue fever in military personnel.

In May this year, some of the VADMP results were detailed during five presentations to the 15th Asia Pacific Military Medicine Conference. This conference served as an opportunity to provide the 600 delegates from 29 countries with an appreciation of the work being carried out by the project.

The experience in Vietnam indicates that establishing bilateral medical collaboration can be a useful way of initiating or promoting strategic defence relationships with other countries.

International Policy Division regards the VADMP as a significant part of Australia's broadening defence relationship with Vietnam. In recent years the relationship has grown to include regular senior officer and ship visits and educational exchanges. A major focus is on English language training that will be a foundation for further expansion of the relationship, for both countries' benefit.

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