ADB: 3 nations to get additional $49 mln to fight tropical diseases

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is extending US$49 million to expand surveillance response systems to help control dengue outbreaks, and prevent the spread of communicable and tropical diseases in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, the bank announced Tuesday.

“Preventing these diseases requires better local participation and much more intensive regional cooperation,” Vincent de Wit, who leads health professional in ADB’s Southeast Asia Department, said in the announcement.

The bank added that the Second Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Regional Communicable Diseases Control Project, which is an offshoot of the first GMS Regional Communicable Diseases Control Project, would also target improvements in the capacity of health services and communities involved in disease control in border districts of the three countries.

The community-based communicable disease control systems funded by the project are aimed at around 1.7 million people living in 116 border districts. About one-third of the population in the target areas belong to ethnic minority groups, according to the Philippines-based lender.

ADB said the new project would build on earlier successes, from the earlier GMS Regional Communicable Diseases Control Project, to strengthen surveillance and response mechanisms.

Financing will come from ADB’s concessional Asian Development Fund with a loan of US$27 million for Vietnam and grants of $10 million for Cambodia and $12 million for Laos. The three countries will provide counterpart support totaling US$5 million equivalent, said ADB.

The Ministry of Health in each country will be the executing agency for the project, which is due for completion in June 2016. The regional coordination unit will be based in Vientiane of Laos.

Environmentally-friendly bags come into use

Vietnamese people are familiar with plastic bags and rarely use environmentally-friendly products in their household. According to the HCM City Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, the city’s people eliminate nearly 50 tonnes of plastic bags per day, of which 90 percent are dumped in the environment.

Scientists say it takes 20 - 1,000 years for a plastic bag to disintegrate and this becomes one indirect cause of cancer and neurological disease in the meantime.

Nguyen Khoa, deputy head of Chemical Technology Institute says there are tonnes of plastic bags discarded as rubbish in southern Vietnam which seriously pollutes the environment. The additive composing in the plastic is especially harmful to human health.

So far, 11 enterprises in HCM City have joined the “Month of environmentally-friendly bag use” by persuading their customers to minimize using plastic bags, presenting them with eco-friendly ones and granting coupon for customers using environmentally-friendly bags.

The Maximark has used this kind of bag since January, 2009 in spite of its business costs increase of 18-22 percent. The Saigon Coop is also involved in the programme. Phuc Le Gia Limited Company has pledged to finance 4,000 disposable bags and 2,000 tonnes of paper for the campaign.

Some people say they know plastic bag is poisonous, but it is difficult to buy and use an environmentally-friendly bag in the city. “Most supermarkets use plastic bags, and eco-friendly bags are very uncommon”, says a customer.

Vietnam currently has no standard for the environmentally-friendly bag, and businesses operating in this field must choose materials as well as the quality of their products. They also have to compete with the plastic bag in terms of price and counterfeits. Supermarkets and shops lack certainty in choosing their providers of eco-friendly bags.

Business representatives said the country needs a nationwide campaign on using the environmentally-friendly bag. They said State agencies should keep the public fully aware of the need to use disposable bags.

Nguyen Sy Anh, vice director of Kim Nhat Packing Company Limited, says his company has decided to use the environmentally-friendly bags for the sake of environment protection.

The businesses hope the Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality will carefully consider a new tax level imposed on the sale of nylon bags in the market and confirm the properties of environmentally-friendly bags that need to be used instead before making a final decision in late November.

Imported turtles threaten locals in Hoan Kiem Lake

Invasive red ear turtles are flourishing in Ha Noi's fabled Hoan Kiem (Returned Sword) Lake, threatening to eradicate native indigenous species, according to environmentalists.

Pham Dinh Quyen, general secretary of the Viet Nam Association for Conservation of Nature and Environment, blamed the public for releasing the turtles into the lake for good luck on Tet and the fifteenth day of the lunar month.

"People traditionally release animals on holidays. Unfortunately, these turtles are adaptable and have been thriving in Viet Nam, at the expense of local species in Hoan Kiem Lake," Quyen said.

Professor Ha Dinh Duc, an expert on turtles, said he first noticed the invasive species, which are indigenous to the US, in 1997.

"It's hard to estimate precise numbers but they multiple very quickly and appear to be thriving," he said.

Duc said the turtles are not harmful in a predatory fashion but that they compete with native species for food.

Red-ear turtles, also know as sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans) have also been seen in Thien Quang well at Van Mieu (Temple of Literature).

The municipal authority has launched a public-awareness campaign about the threat posed by the species and has urged people to kill them.

Nguyen Minh Tuan, who manages Hoan Kiem Lake, said his staff actively deterred members of the public from releasing turtles into the lake.

"We are not sure whether to advise the public to kill the animals because they might harm native species," Tuan said.

Environmentalists said the authorities should ban the import of the turtles and educate the public about the dangers of releasing them into the environment.

"People must understand that these creatures are as dangerous to native species as yellow snails, pirana tiger fish and momosa, which have also been introduced into this country," he said.

Source: VNS, VOV, SGGP