Children mistakenly injected with water instead of vaccine

In Dong Thap Province, 60 children were mistakenly injected with distilled water instead of rubella vaccine.

The Dong Thap Department of Health confirmed that six bottles of distilled water had been used instead of the vaccine at a kindergarten.

Although it did not result in any reported harmful effects, the department did place blame for the mistake on an inexperienced staff member who, they said, forgot to mix the vaccine powder with water before injection.

The provincial Department of Health held a joint press conference with local officials to explain the incident and make a public apology to the families.

The staff member who gave the shots was also susupended by the Health Centre of Cao Lanh City.

An estimated 23 million Vietnamese children between the ages of 1 and 14 will be vaccinated against measles and rubella following the launch of the largest-ever nationwide vaccination campaign starting from September 15.

The campaign will be carried out in three phases, with the first providing free measles-rubella vaccine for children under five in September and October, the second targeting children in the 6-10 age group in November and December, and the third for kids aged 11-14 in January and February next year.

President Obama thanks Vietnamese American nurse

Nurse Nina Pham - the first person to catch Ebola on US soil has been declared free of the deadly disease 13 days after testing positive, clearing the way for President Obama to give her a big hug in the oval office.

"I feel fortunate and blessed to be standing here today. Throughout this ordeal, I have put my faith in God and my medical team." Pham said on October 24 at a press conference.

“The Ebola experience was a very stressful and challenging time,” she said adding "I am on my way back to recovery even as I reflect on how many others have not been so fortunate."

White House press secretary Josh Earnest called Pham's case "a pretty apt reminder we do have the best medical infrastructure in the world."

"The track record of treating Ebola patients in this country is very strong, particularly for those who are quickly diagnosed," Earnest said.

The northern province of Bac Giang has met most targets it set for the year regarding forest planting and protection, according to Duong Xuan Banh, Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The Deputy Director reported that the province’s wood output from planted forests reached 30,000 cubic metres in 2014, 40 percent higher than its target.

Bac Giang has also successfully reduced the area of forests damaged by fire with no major forest fire occurring so far.

The locality targets to expand its forest coverage to more than 37 percent through the planting of 5,000ha of forest in a bid to help protect the environment, ease natural disasters, protect bio-diversity of forests while raising income for local people and reducing poverty rate from forestry.

The province has also issued a detailed plan on the protection, development and use of the existing forests and land designated for forestry.

Vietnam, Mexico to enhance cooperation on higher education

Vietnam and Mexico agreed to boost bilateral ties in the field of higher education during a recent working session between senior officials of the two countries’ education ministries.

The meeting took place as part of the Mexico trip by Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Thi Nghia to attend the 4th World Congress and 14th International Meeting on Early Education and Preschool held in Monterrey City, Mexico, last week.

During the working session with Mexican Director General of International Relations at the Ministry of Education, María del Socorro Rovirosa, Nghia proposed a bilateral agreement on tertiary education cooperation.

The Mexican official pledged to examine Vietnam’s proposal and provide feedback promptly. She expressed her hope to visit Vietnam in the future.

The two sides discussed information and teaching method sharing, the exchange of delegations and the promotion of signing an agreement on the recognition of the respective countries’ degrees and qualifications.

In response to rules seen as draconian by employees, workers at Vina Duke Company in HCM City have gone on strike.

Staff members at the company are allowed 150 minutes per month bathroom time, with any extra time used in the toilet being deducted from their salaries. This, among other strict rules enforced by the company, has caused a backlash from their workers, who went on strike en mass in the past week. The striking workers reached numbers of nearly  4,000.

Representatives for the employees said that, since September, the company suddenly reduce the pay for piece-work by VND200 per unit without any explanation, without raising the base salary.

The company also put into place other strict regulations including the time limits on bathroom breaks. Employees say that the restrooms are located far away from work stations, which makes it difficult for them to fulfill the requirements. Salary deductions for violating the company policy amount to VND450,000.

Workers are also forced to pay for company meals, which they say is of very poor quality.

Initially, when the protest began, there was no negotiation from management. The only communication from the board of directors has been signboards pasted on the gates demanding that employees resume work immediately, and without pay for the days they have been absent. However, on October 21, a company representative was sent to arbitrate.

Since then, representatives from the Trade Union of Hooc Mon District have said that the company has given signals they may be willing to reduce the price of meals and build more convenient restrooms.

The Trade Union of Hooc Mon District said that following the workers’ strong reaction, director of the company said the meal price will be adjusted and new rest-rooms will be built.

Demands for a raise in pay, however, seem to have fallen on deaf ears. The company has said that any salary increases would have to be prompted by new government regulations on minimum wage.

Youth voluntary campaign kicked off in Cao Bang

The Vietnam Youth Union launched the 2014 winter voluntary campaign in the northern province of Cao Bang on October 26.

The campaign will focus on four main groups of activities which are to help farmers cope with the upcoming winter, join hands in overcoming flood consequences, provide free health care to the disadvantaged, and gather support for the poor to celebrate the upcoming Lunar New Year.

The union set the targets of providing free medical checks and medicine to around 50,000 people, collect 100,000 tonnes of food and 100,000 blankets for the poor and build 50 charitable houses.

Following the launch ceremony, the union offered free health check-ups and medicine to the locals and started construction of a charitable house. Representatives from the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union visited and presented gifts to needy students, the poor and those who rendered services to the nation.

HCM City needs 30,000 new workers in November

Enterprises in the southern economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City need to employ 30,000 new members of staff in November, including 10,000 seasonal contracts to fill orders from domestic and foreign buyers.

Temporary workers are required in a number of sectors, including garment production, information technology (IT), sales and marketing, services and hospitality.

Manual labour is in high demand, accounting for 33 percent, followed by graduates and postgraduates with 14 percent and technicians with 7 percent, the municipal Centre of Forecasting Manpower Needs and Labor Market Information (FALMI) announced on October 22.

Demand for workers in October increased by 40 percent compared to the previous month, mainly in IT, electronics and mechanics, food technology, real estate, and marketing and sales.

In October, the number of job seekers rose by 10.7 percent, which the majority of applicants trained in IT, architecture, construction, management, sales, and accounting. Graduates make up as much as 58.3 percent of job seekers.

The private sector, especially foreign-owned businesses, offers the most employment opportunities, accounting for 78 percent of recruiters. Almost 70 percent of positions require candidates to have previous work experience.

Asia-Pacific forum to review policies on People with Disabilities

The biennial Asia and Pacific Disability Forum (APDF) conference on the implementation of the rights of people with disabilities will commence in Hanoi on November 26 with the participation of almost 500 domestic and international delegates.

The focus of the conference is to review the progress made on the Incheon strategy with regard to the realisation of the rights of people with disabilities in the fields of education, employment and the media. The strategy is part of the ministerial declaration issued at the first APDF in Incheon, the Republic of Korea, in 2012.

Participants will also discuss how to increase public awareness of the rights of people with disabilities.

A number of side events will be organised during the four-day event, including an exhibition of handicrafts made by people with disabilities, a walking tour of Hanoi, a gala dinner and a singing contest.

In a congratulatory message to the organising board, President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan hailed the upcoming event as an appropriate celebration of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (December 3).

The event will be co-hosted by the Vietnam Federation on Disability and the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

Emergency helicopter helps save life of ill fisherman

A fisherman suffering from acute lung failure with the risk of heart, liver and kidney damage caused by a throat abscess has been saved after being flown ashore by a military helicopter for emergency treatment.

Le Quang Minh, 20, from the central province of Binh Dinh , developed symptoms of a fever and sore throat whilst fishing in the Truong Sa fishing grounds. He was taken to a medical station on Truong Sa Lon Island for treatment on October 19.

The next day, his symptoms intensified with a high fever, swollen tongue and lung infection. The island’s army medical staff discovered an abscess in his throat.

On the morning on October 21, Minh was diagnosed with respiratory failure with a high risk of developing acute respiratory distress syndrome.

At 13:45 on October 21, the Air Force’s Division 370 dispatched a helicopter and a medical team to the island to bring the man ashore for emergency medical treatment.

After first aid treatment, the patient was flown ashore on the morning of October 22. He is now recovering at Hospital 175.

Over 99 pct of communes join national power grid

As of September this year, over 9,000 communes throughout the country or 99.4 percent have been connected with the national power grid.

Notably, two undersea power transmission cable projects linking the island districts of Phu Quoc in southern Kien Giang province and Ly Son in central Quang Ngai province to the national grid were put into operation in February and September this year.

The two projects have benefited more than 21,000 households in the two districts, helping to raise the percentage of households with power supply to 98.4 percent.

The Electricity of Vietnam has sold power to over 85 percent of communes nationwide, with more than 81 percent of rural households.

The group is also running a range of projects in a bid to improve the efficiency of its power supply.

HCM City hospital sets up organ transplant unit

Cho Ray Hospital in HCM City has set up the Unit for Co-ordinating Human Organ Transplants to help save lives in the country, as the demand for organ transplants far exceeds the number of donations.

Tran Ngoc Sinh, chairman of HCM City Nephro-Urological Association, said the hospital performed 40 kidney transplant surgeries every year, with living donor kidney transplantation accounting for 95 per cent.

Since 2008, Cho Ray hospital has saved the life of 13 people who needed kidneys. The organs were taken from seven donors whose hearts were still beating but had experienced brain death.

The hospital was also preparing to conduct donor transplants from kidneys taken from "non-heart-beating" patients, Sinh said.

Every day, the hospital received an average of five people a day with brain death or a non-beating heart due to traffic accidents.

Organs from these patients, including kidney, liver, heart, lung and pancreas, could be used for transplant, Sinh said.

Du Thi Ngoc Thu, head of the hospital's Unit for Co-ordinating Human Organ Ttransplantation, said that more than 6,000 people across the country with serious kidney failure were in need of kidney transplantation.

A total of 1,500 people were waiting for liver transplants while 6,000 needed cornea transplants, Thu said.

The new unit is also expected to help prevent illegal trading in human organs.

Police destroy marijuana farms

The Central Highlands Province's narcotics police force has uprooted 3,900 marijuana plants and 2,900 saplings from illegal farms since early this year, said senior Lieutenant Colonel Hoang Van Oach, deputy head of the province's narcotics force.

He said the police also destroyed hundreds of kilograms of the farms' marijuana.

People from other provinces had hired local farmers to plant the marijuana. However, many local farmers did not know what the plants were, Oach said.

The police asked the province's administration to promote marijuana awareness.

Cameras to monitor hospital procedures

The Radio the Voice of Viet Nam (VOV) will install modern camera systems at 12 hospitals in Ha Noi and HCM City to supervise check-ups and treatment under a co-operation agreement signed with the health ministry on Thursday.

The ministry and VOV will also produce a radio news channel focusing on healthcare activities. The news channel will inform listeners about the health ministry's activities and healthcare activities observed via the surveillance systems, in addition to spotlighting good doctors. A dialogue between listeners and health officials about major issues of public concern will be broadcast live on VOV's FM 91Mhz every Saturday.

Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said the co-operation agreement demonstrated the health ministry's efforts to improve administrative procedures and the quality of healthcare.

Farmers reap benefits from innovations

New agricultural seedlings as well as machinery and technologies developed by institutes, universities, enterprises and farmers over the past years have helped Vietnamese farmers reduce production costs, but more needs to be done, heard a seminar held in HCM City this week.

From 2006 to 2013, the Institute of Agricultural Sciences for Southern Viet Nam had produced quality seedlings for rice, maize, cassava, sugarcane, cashew, soya bean, tomato, flowers and others, according to Ngo Quang Vinh, the institute's deputy director.

The institute has also transferred high-yield cassava seedlings to farmers in many provinces, including Tay Ninh, Binh Phuoc and Binh Thuan.

Up to 90 per cent out of 300,000ha of the country's total cassava cultivation area are using cassava strains provided by the institute.

"We are preparing to launch new seedlings that can resist diseases and offer higher yields," Vinh told delegates at the seminar, which was organised by the National Agriculture Extension Centre.

The institute has also provided high-yield cashew strains to farmers in many provinces, mainly in Binh Phuoc and Lam Dong, he said.

However, seedling production cannot meet demand.

Huynh Van Nghiep, deputy director of the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta Rice Research Institute, said rice seedlings developed by the institute were also used in Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Brunei, South Asia and Africa.

The institute each year provides hundreds of certified seedlings to localities, contributing to increase the area of rice fields using certified seeds from under 10 per cent in 1999 to more than 34 per cent currently in the Mekong Delta, according to Nghiep.

In addition, his institute has conducted research to develop technology and farming methods that can increase rice productivity and quality in different ecological systems in the Mekong Delta region.

Phan Huy Thong, director of the National Agriculture Extension Centre, praised the efforts of institutes, universities, enterprises and farmers for their work in developing seedlings, technologies and machinery.

However, many local companies remain unaware of these technologies as marketing has been weak, according to Thong.

As a result, they import technologies rather than use similar products made in Viet Nam.

He called on researchers and businesses to develop closer linkages to improve the situation.

Nguyen Van Minh, general secretary of Viet Nam Agricultural Enterprise and Farm Association suggested that institutes and schools focus more on research to improve post-harvest and processing technologies to help reduce production costs and improve product quality.

Technology to process by-products should also be created to raise farmers' income, they said.

Duong Minh Hoang, director of the Soc Trang Province Agricultural Extension Centre, told Viet Nam News: "I'm interested in new innovations in seedlings and machinery to mechanise agricultural production. The province will check to see which technologies are suitable to transfer to local farmers."

Retailers support tomato growers

Retailers in HCM City, including Big C and Saigon Co.op, are offering farmers in Lam Dong Province higher prices for tomatoes, which have plummeted in price to VND500-VND1,000 a kilo.

Since late last month, when the harvest season for tomatoes began, many farmers have incurred losses because of an oversupply.

An agricultural official in the province said the oversupply had been due to an increase in Chinese tomato imports and favourable weather conditions had allowed other areas to plant the vegetable.

Saigon Co.op, owner of the Co.opmart chain, is paying farmers VND6,000 a kilo, and has also transported tomatoes to the central and northern provinces for sale.

Nguyen Thanh Nhan, deputy general director of Saigon Co.op, said the move aimed to help famers to recover so they could continue the next crop.

An average of 12 tonnes of tomatoes are sold at the outlets every day, and the figure could reach 16 tonnes a day on the weekend.

As of yesterday, more than 300 tonnes of tomatoes had been sold via the Saigon Co.op retail chain.

Big C said it would buy150 tonnes of tomatoes from farmers and would sell the tomatoes at a cost price and pay the transport costs to the central and northern markets.

With such activities, the supermarket expects the volume of tomatoes sold at its 28 outlets to increase by five to six times.

However, such activities are only short-term measures, according to agricultural experts. To solve the problem of price drops on bumper crops, linkages between farmers and businesses in agricultural production should be enhanced, they said.

New rice model to grow in Ca Mau

The Mekong Delta province of Ca Mau plans to expand its large-scale rice fields to cover 15,000 hectares by 2015 and 20,000 hectares by 2020, said a provincial official.

By 2020, average rice output is expected to grow from the current 5.7 tonnes per hectare to 6.2 tonnes, according to director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Van Su.

Under the plan, rice will be planted in the area covering U Minh, Tran Van Thoi and Thoi Binh districts in U Minh Ha region.

In the three years since it was first implemented, the large-scale rice field model helped mechanise production and promoted connections between farmers and businesses, Su said.

Chairman of the provincial People's Committee Le Dung forecast that local rice farmers would earn twice as much by 2020 thanks to the new model.

The Mekong Delta, one of the key regions applying the model and the country's largest rice granary, comprises 12 provinces and one centrally-run city with a total area of 40,000 square kilometres and a combined population of 18 million. The region has been tasked with ensuring the country's food security and aims to maintain annual output of 24-25 million tonnes of rice, more than half of which is exported.

M&M chocolate candies found being sold in District 3 and Tan Phu

Some shops in district 3 and Tan Phu of Ho Chi Minh City were discovered on October 25 being sold the M&M’s chocolate candies produced by M&M Company, containing peanut butter that could cause allergic to consumers.

Although representatives of Big C, Maximark said they stopped selling this production and C.L.G Company – distributor, in Dien Bien Phu Street of District 3 confirmed also not to import this chocolate M&M candies.

Doctor Tran Thi Hoai Huong in Ho Chi Minh City Dermatology Hospital said this production can cause serious reactions to consumers allergic with butter and peanut however; it will be harmless to normal people.

Earlier, on October 10 Food & Safety Department under the ministry of health received warning from the US’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that Mars Chocolate North America took back lots of M&M’s chocolate candies.

Fire destroys warehouse in HCM City

A fire broke out at a 1,000sqm-warehouse in HCM City's Thu Duc District early this morning.

The warehouse contains a large number of packing material, plastic cans and paint containers, making it easy for the fire to spread to the whole warehouse.

It took firefighters four hours to extinguish the fire, forcing the people in several households nearby to temporarily evacuate the area.

The case is under investigation.

Women's Union provides training in Vinh Long

The Vinh Long Province Women's Union has helped thousands of women escape poverty in recent years by providing them with vocational training and helping them set up businesses among other efforts.

The union has at all levels established many production models for cultivating mushrooms, making handicrafts, and sewing for women.

Making acupuncture needles in Mang Thit District's Long My Commune, a business established by the commune Women's Union, for instance, provides jobs for about 300 women with an average monthly income of VND2 million (US$95).

Under the model, women can work either part-time or full-time.

Le Thi Minh Tuyet, 50, of Long Khanh Hamlet said she has been making the needles part-time for four years and earned VND30,000-50,000 a day.

"My family breeds livestock for a living. When I am free I do this job and earn extra money for my children's studies."

Ngo Nguyen Hien Nhi, chairwoman of the Long My Women's Union, said the business enables women to have stable incomes and thus helps reduce poverty.

In the past two years the province Women's Union has helped 27,797 poor women get loans on easy terms to do business.

Women's unions at the grass-roots levels have, in co-operation with vocational training centres, taught more than 6,270 women vocational skills like making handicrafts and sewing for this year. Of them, 5,800 have stable jobs, according to the Women's Union.

They have also informed 17,313 women about job vacancies.

Nguyen Thi Minh Hanh, chairwoman of the province Women's Union, said all the women who got the loans are doing business efficiently.

The union targets each district creating 1,200-2,000 jobs for women every year, she said.

In the first six months of this year the province has seen 2,505 households, 874 of them headed by women, escape poverty, she said.

The poverty rate has fallen from 7.9 per cent in 2011 to 4.57 per cent, according to the province People's Committee.

HCM City to test medicine supplies

The HCM City Department of Health this week ordered the Centre for Quality Control of Food, Drug and Cosmetics to obtain samples and test 332 out of 1,193 drugs that won bids to supply to hospitals this year following reports about poor quality of drugs.

The 332 belong to one of three categories, Nguyen Tan Binh, the department head, said: imported drugs, those about which some hospitals have complained about side effects, and those bidding successfully for the first time.

The test results would be published on the department's website, he added.

But the department said in a public announcement that there is no evidence that any of the drugs are substandard and it has got no negative feedback about them from hospitals.

They are all licensed and so cannot be substandard, it explained.

The tenders were called for as prescribed in the Bidding Law and Ministry of Health circulars.

Binh called on hospitals to continue their surveillance of these drugs and immediately report to the department in the case of problems.

The department has set up a team of inspectors to regularly check drug plants that win bids to supply to hospitals to ensure quality, he added.

Authorities call for measures to prevent highway fatalities

The National Steering Committee for Traffic Safety has ordered localities to take measures to reduce traffic accidents along National Highway 1A, particularly road sections that are being upgraded.

The move was made in response to the increase in the number of traffic accidents on the highway.

The committee reported that 881 traffic accidents had been reported during the first eight months of this year, killing 672 people and injuring 599 others.

In the latest case, three people died when a motorbike collided with a truck last Sunday on the National Highway 1A section running through the central province of Nghe An.

In the central province of Quang Nam where a section of the national highway is being upgraded, traffic accidents leapt by 30 per cent in the first eight months of this year in comparison with the same period last year, according to local authorities.

The main reasons for the accidents include shortcoming in ensuring traffic safety along construction sties and lack of inspection and punishment for violators, according to the committee.

The committee urged the transport ministry to instruct investors of road upgrading projects to speed up work, abide by regulations ensuring traffic safety, particularly in installing signal boards and traffic lights and assigning people to divert traffic around construction work.

Barriers were also needed to separate the road into lanes to prevent vehicles colliding head-on.

The committee also said investors who violated safety regulations should be punished.

The North-South National Highway 1A crosses 31 provinces and cities from the northern border province of Lang Son to the southernmost province of Ca Mau.

Ebola response plan and drill prepared

An Ebola response drill will be held at the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi on November 1 and then in three other hospitals in Hanoi, central Thua Thien-Hue and Ho Chi Minh City, according to the Health Ministry.

On October 24, the Health Ministry’s council on contagious diseases convened a meeting to give update on the diagnosis and treatment of Ebola, which has claimed the lives of over 4.870 people in West Africa.

The ministry first issued guidance on the diagnosis and treatment of the disease on August 8, 2014.

Director of the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases Nguyen Van Kinh said that during the fight against Ebola, the world gained experience in containing the virus in Nigeria in 42 days and in successfully treating Ebola-infected victims in the US.

Vietnam has reported no cases of Ebola infections to date. However, the health sector and localities nationwide are taking necessary measures to brace for the disease.

TOEFL Junior Challenge 2014 launched

More than 5,600 candidates from 123 secondary schools in Hanoi attended the first round of the 2014 TOEFL Junior Challenge for the capital city on October 26.

TOEFL Junior Challenge is an English proficiency contest tailored directly towards Secondary school students. This contest uses tests with international standards provided by ETS - TOEFL Junior and TPO (TOEFL Practice Online) as the evaluation criteria.

This year, IIG Vietnam – the only official representative of Educational Testing Service (ETS) is cooperating with 17 Departments of Education and Training in the country to organize the TOEFL Junior Challenge 2014 on a national scale.

In the first round, the candidates will take the multiple choice English test – designed by experts from ETS. In the second round, they will take the TOEFL Junior test and in the third (final) round they will take the TPO (TOEFL Practice Online) test.

The regional’s results will be compared against TOEFL Junior Challenge 2014 round 3’s results from all the cities in the country to compete for 1 National First prize, 3 National Second Prizes, and 6 National Third prizes.

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