The Vietnamese delegation to the event. (Photo: VNA) On the sidelines of the conference, Deputy Minister Tuyen hadworking sessions with the UNESCO Director General and Deputy Director General,as well as leaders of a number of participating delegations on the promotion ofbilateral and multilateral cooperation in the health care area.
The 42nd session of the UNESCO General Conference opened onNovember 7, drawing representatives from 194 member countries, 12 associatemember countries, observer countries, international organisations andnon-governmental organisations.
During the session, the UNESCO General Assembly approved theprogramme and budget for period 2024 – 2025 period, the human resourcesmanagement strategy for the 2023 - 2027 period, and UNESCO's operationalstrategy for Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Participants also discussedmany current urgent issues, contributing to promoting peace and sustainabledevelopment.
Particularly, on November 21, the conference passed aresolution on the list of eminent personalities and historical events in 2023 –2024, which includes progenitor of Vietnamese traditional medicine Hai ThuongLan Ong Le Huu Trac.
The year 2024 will mark the 300th birth anniversary of the Vietnamese talentedmedic. To honour his contributions and merits to Vietnam’s medicine, culture,and folklore, Vietnam prepared a dossier and submitted it to UNESCO forrecognition, which was highly evaluated by international experts.
The resolution was passed by all UNESCO members, showing the clearestaffirmation of the great contributions of Vietnamese people in the fields ofeducation, health, culture, and society, and demonstrating their spread oftalent and intelligence in the international arena, he said.
Deputy Minister Tuyen emphasised that famous physician Le Huu Trac was ahistorical figure who left a treasure of great values in the fields ofmedicine, culture, and education.
Le Huu Trac (1724 - 1791), alias Hai Thuong Lan Ong, hailed from the northernprovince of Hung Yen.
He was not only a great physician and pharmacist but also an excellent poet andwriter, and a thinker with progressive thought and profound humanitarianspirit. After passing away, he was honoured as the “Saint of medicine ofVietnam”.
He left a large number of works, which reflect his deepknowledge, progressive thought, and pure morality, and set a bright example ofmedical ethics, principles, and practices for following generations. For thosereasons, he was considered the progenitor of Vietnam's traditionalmedicine.
As the year 2024 will mark the 300th birth anniversary of Le Huu Trac, UNESCO’sdecision to commemorate the great physician is a recognition of his dedicationsto the medicine, literature, and culture of Vietnam 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 thebirth/death anniversaries of several Vietnamese figures, namely the 600th birthanniversary of Nguyen Trai (approved in 1980), the 100th birth anniversary ofPresident Ho Chi Minh (1990), the 250th birth anniversary of Nguyen Du (2015),the 650th death anniversary of Chu Van An (2019), the 200th birth anniversaryof Nguyen Dinh Chieu (2021), the 250th birth and 200th death anniversaries ofHo Xuan Huong (2021), and the 300th birth anniversary of Hai Thuong Lan Ong LeHuu Trac (2023)./.
VNA
