Poor doctor care, lax security, blamed for hospital staff attacks

Medical staff are being attacked in increasing numbers by patients and family members because of perceived neglect by doctors and lax security in hospitals, Vietnamese officials say.

They estimate 14 doctors have been assaulted in hospitals since 2013, although there are no official reports of how many attacks have actually occurred.

On October 14 this year, two medical staff at Hong Thuy Medical Centre were attacked. They were sewing up a wound when the patient jumped up, used scissors to stab one health worker and chased the other one.

At the General Hospital in Lam Dong Province last year, family of a traffic accident victim stormed in demanding immediate treatment, and beat wo doctors who failed to comply. In 2011, thinking that the doctors were slow in treating a patient, a relative killed one doctor and injured another at General Hospital of Vu Thu District in Thai Binh Province.

Luong Ngoc Khue, head of the Treatment and Examination Management Department, under the Ministry of Health, said some of the assaults could be traced back to the doctors themselves.

"Several doctors were connected with brokers to increase the patient number in their department," Khue said. "Some were irresponsible and caused regretful consequences.

"Doctors are losing credibility with public." he said, but added hospitals did not pay enough attention to overall security.

Pham Manh Hung, the chairman of Vietnam Medical Association, said local authorities should also cooperate with hospital directors to ensure their safety. Hung suggested restrictions on the presence of non-patients in hospitals.

The Ministry of Health recently issued a code of conduct for medical staff, including improved communication skills and manner.

The ministry was working to improve services by easing the burden on many overloaded hospitals in Vietnam.

Coastal provinces brace as Storm Hagupit approaches

Coastal localities from Da Nang to Kien Giang are bracing for heavy rains and other impacts of Storm Hagupit after it entered the East Sea yesterday afternoon.

The entry of the 5th tropical storm in the East Sea this year prompted an urgent message on Monday night from Hoang Van Thang, vice chairman of the Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control.

He asked all localities to take all needed precautionary steps including informing offshore vessels of the storm's progress, asking them to find safe anchorage spots and mobilising task forces for emergencies.

As of 6 a.m. yesterday, more than 32,000 vessels had been informed about the storm, said deputy chief of the committee's Office Vu Xuan Thanh.

He also said that Quang Tri, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Ninh Thuan, HCM City, Ben Tre, Ca Mau and Soc Trang had sent their preparedness plans to the office.

The National Centre for Hydro – Meteorological Forecasting said the storm was forecast to weaken a lot before it makes landfall in the south central provinces of Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan on Thursday night.

It predicted heavy rains for the south central and southern regions.

As of 4pm yesterday, the eye of the storm was located about 600km east of Truong Sa (Spratly) Archipelago's Song Tu Tay Island, with 62-74km per hour winds.

The storm is moving west at 20km per hour.

In another movement, a cold spell is expected to blanket the northern region on Wednesday night before bringing torrential rains to the central provinces. 

National award for media coverage of VN launched

The Party Central Committee's Commission for Publicity and Education and Steering Committee for External Information Services launched their first-ever award for Viet Nam-related journalism for overseas audiences yesterday in Ha Noi.

Print newspapers, radio, television and e-newspapers published in Vietnamese and foreign languages, both domestically and overseas, are eligible for the prize.

Pham Van Linh, deputy chairman of the Party Central Committee's Commission for Publicity and Education and the Steering Committee, said that broadcasting Viet Nam's image to the world and spreading the word about the country's achievements were important tasks.

Such coverage was also key to combating false information spread by hostile forces and calling for help from the international community in building and protecting the nation, said Linh.

Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan hoped that the award would motivate reporters and press agencies to publish information about Viet Nam overseas.

The award ceremony will be organised on May 19. Major press agencies in Viet Nam will take turns as organisers, beginning with the Vietnam News Agency.

Detailed information about the examiner council, prize structure and deadline for submission will be announced soon.

Red-tailed viper attacks increase

HCM City-based Cho Ray Hospital has treated 500 people for red-tailed viper attacks this year.

Patients mostly come from Long An, Binh Phuoc, Binh Duong, Dong Nai and HCM City.

In the rainy month of October alone, the hospital received 90 patients, up from 50 in the previous months.

Head of the hospital's Tropical Disease Department, Tran Quang Binh, said that the number of red-tailed viper attacks increased in the southern region once consistent rains arrived.

Binh advised that snake-bite victims should keep still and brought to the hospital as soon as possible after giving them proper first aid.

According to the hospital, no fatality from the viper has been reported so far.

Overloaded truck drivers fined

Traffic Police of Hai Duong province arrested and fined ten truck drivers a total VND120 million (US$5,700) for overloading on Sunday.

These trucks were found transporting cargos exceeding allowed levels by 70 to 200 per cent.

In addition to the fines, they were also required to reduce the loads and their driving licenses were revoked for more than two months.

The drivers said they were transporting goods from the port city of Hai Phong to Thai Nguyen Industrial Zone of Thai Nguyen province.

Avian flu reported in Mekong Delta province

Avian influenza virus subtype H5N1 appeared in the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh as 177 chickens in Phong Thanh commune, Cau Ke district, were tested positive for the virus, the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development affirmed.

The detection prompted the Tra Vinh People’s Committee to order all relevant agencies to step up prevention measures, including notifying residents about the situation, vaccinating livestock and poultry against flu strains, and sterilising farms and abattoirs.

The committee also asked agencies to set up and enhance the operation of checkpoints along waterways and roads traversing flu-hit communes as well as in localities neighbouring other provinces such as Cang Long town, Cau Quan town, Thong Hoa commune, and Dinh An commune.

Quarantine staff members were also sent to markets, wharfs, and bus stations to monitor livestock and fowl trade and transport.

In the first quarter of 2014, Tra Vinh recorded 25 avian influenza outbreaks in 12 communes which killed 16,500 out of the total 22,000 chickens.

Motorbike taxi service is gaining in popularity in Hanoi, with dozens of uniformed drivers on company bikes doing a brisk business outside My Dinh Station.

With some ten companies now competing in Hanoi, offering price-meter rides, the service is growing in popularity. Operations began in HCM City in 2012.

Companies own and maintain the bikes, which carry the company logo and contact details, much like a normal taxi, and pay drivers a monthly salary of 70 percent of metered fares they collect.

Many drivers said that because operations are managed by companies, they earn a more stable income and get health insurance.

The motorbike taxi companies maintain a hotline for customers complaints to deter drivers attempting to falsify fares, or take longer routes than necessary, as well as to report on any poor attitude.

The Chairman of the Hanoi Automobile Transport Association, Bui Danh Lien, said that while motorbike taxis are a new service, the companies need to ensure transparency in setting prices for customers and focus on delivering good service.

A challenge for companies in Hanoi will be to build professional and competitive fleets of drivers.

High-rise building to go up in Youth Cultural House area

The HCMC government has approved in principle an architectural and zoning plan for a high-rise building in the area of the HCMC Youth Cultural House at the corner of Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Pham Ngoc Thach and Nguyen Van Chiem streets in District 1.

Huynh Xuan Thu, director of the Planning Information Center under the HCMC Department of Zoning and Architecture, said the new building will provide more room for activities of the house whose main entrance is at 4 Pham Ngoc Thach Street.

As planned, Nguyen Van Chiem Street will be expanded while the width of Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street will be kept unchanged in accordance with an urban zoning plan for this area.

The city government has assigned the Department of Planning and Architecture and relevant agencies to collaborate with consulting agency CPG Singapore to work out the outline for the new building in harmony with surrounding greenery and structures.  

The department has been told to propose a feasible scheme to attract investors to the new building to ensure the economic efficiency of this project and speed up its construction.

Do as airlines do

Thousands of people have been thronging the Saigon Railway Station these days, laboriously waiting to buy tickets for travel to their homes for the forthcoming Lunar New Year holiday, or Tet. Experts said this scene will repeat itself in years to come if the railway sector takes no drastic measures to change the status quo.  

As reported by local media, many passengers have managed to come to the station in HCMC’s District 3 hours before the

opening of the ticketing office at the station. However, many of them have been unable to find tickets that match their planned departure dates.

Tickets for the trains to Vinh City, Nghe An and Quang Binh and other north-central localities have been swiftly snapped up due to strong demand. As an alternative, many people have booked seats on the trains to get to the stations far from their hometowns and then take a coach to travel on to their homes.

Nguyen Van Thanh, head of the Saigon Railway Station, advised people to make early bookings on the websites of Vietnam Railway Corp. (VRC). But a number of customers complained that they could not search for tickets to the destinations of their choice while others claimed they even had not received enough tickets at the station though they had made successful bookings on the websites and settled payments at the banks designated by the corporation.

More than three months ago, the corporation joined hands with FPT Group to develop a VND197-billion system to make it easy for passengers to buy train tickets online and the first phase of the project was put into service last month. The system has neither met expectations of passengers nor helped ease overloads at the ticketing office, though.

Experts warned these old woes will continue in the following Tet if VRC, the only passenger and cargo train transportation operator on almost all routes, does not change and do what domestic airlines have done in ticket sales.

More than 10 million passengers travel by air a year in Vietnam and local airlines cope with surging demand for air-tickets days before the Tet holiday begins like what the railway sector does. But Tan Son Nhat Airport in HCMC is crowded with long lines of people waiting for completing check-in procedures and boarding rather than buying air-tickets as airlines have been forced to sell tickets via different channels, including websites, ticketing offices and agents, to better serve passengers and gain a competitive edge.

The railway sector should follow suit to prevent the ticketing office at the Saigon Railway Station from being overcrowded.

Canada supports LGBT rights, anti-human trafficking work

The Embassy of Canada on December 8 announced a grant of CAD 94,252 (VND1.76 billion) for projects on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) people rights, and anti-human trafficking interventions.

“The Embassy of Canada in Vietnam is pleased to support these excellent projects. We hope that the projects will directly contribute to the improvement LGBT rights and the prevention of anti-human trafficking in Vietnam” said David Devine, Ambassador of Canada to Vietnam.

Three local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) will receive aid through the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives 2014-2015, namely ICS Centre in Ho Chi Minh City, the Centre for Development and Integration (CDI) and the Center for Creative Initiatives in Health and Population (CCIHP) in Hanoi

The ICS Center in Ho Chi Minh City will receive CAD30,607 for the Project: “LGBT rights are human rights – Building capacity to sustain the movement for LGBT human rights in Vietnam at the national and local levels”. The project is to sustain the momentum of the movement for human rights of LGBT persons at the national level and to spearhead the movement in 15 provinces.

The CCIHP will receive CAD30,430 for the project: “Voices Beyond Borders: Combating Human Trafficking in Northern Border Provinces of Vietnam”. It will address human trafficking in Lao Cai province through the use of creative communication (photo-voice) and direct advocacy undertaken by survivors of trafficking and their families to raise awareness of trafficking, help to prevent it from occurring, and to work to ensure that survivors of trafficking are supported and perpetrators prosecuted.

The CDI will receive CAD33,215 for the project:  “Legal support to at risk groups and victims of human trafficking in Trung Khanh border district, Cao Bang province”.  It aims to improve the legal understanding and to provide legal counseling for local stakeholders in Cao Bang in order to improve the capacity of those vulnerable to human-trafficking to protect themselves. It also supports for returning victims. About 1600 people of 3 communes in Trung Khanh district are expected to directly benefit from this project.

First Vietnamese Buddhist temple shaping in India

Sivali Vietnamese Theravada Trust- the first Theravada temple of the Vietnam Buddhist Shangha (VBS) was inaugurated on December 6 in Varanasi, India’s Andhra Pradesh state.

Representatives from the VBS, the Government Committee for Religious Affairs, the Vietnam Embassy in India, Varanasi city authorities along with about 10,000 Buddhist monks and nuns and domestic and foreign guests were in attendance.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Vietnam Ambassador Ton Sinh Thanh praised Most Venerable Dr. Thich Tuong Quang’s great efforts in mobilizing resources for the building of the pagoda, saying this will be an ideal destination for Vietnamese pilgrims, meeting the spiritual needs of Buddhists and tightening the traditional friendship between the two peoples.

On the occasion, VBS Central Committee Chairman Most Venerable Thich Thien Nhon, announced a decision appointing Most Venerable Thich Thien Minh and Most Venerable Thich Truong Quang as heads of the temple.

The temple was built since 2009, covering an area of 5170 m2 at a total cost of up to US$1.3 million as a donation from Buddhist monks and nuns inside and outside the country.

Vietnam attends int’l charity fair in Pakistan

Vietnam joined over 40 countries and international organisations and companies at an international charity fair in Pakistan on December 7 to raise fund for underprivileged people.

The Vietnamese pavilion featured traditional handicrafts and dishes.

The charity fair, organised annually by the Pakistan Foreign Office Women’s Association in Islamabad (PFOWA), aims to raise fund to help the poor and disadvantaged people while creating better opportunities for them to access education and health care.

This year, the Vietnamese Embassy to Pakistan donated 50,000 Rupee in cash and gifts.

As many as 629 breeding cows will be presented to poor people in 34 communes of seven border districts in the northernmost province of Ha Giang on December 20.

The donation is part of the “Joining hands for community - Breeding cows help the poor in border areas” programme initiated by State President Truong Tan Sang.

The cows, worth 15 million VND (707 USD) each, are meant to assist poor residents in Dong Van, Meo Vac, Yen Minh, Quan Ba, Vi Xuyen, Hoang Su Phi, and Xin Man districts with production tools to escape from poverty.

In November, the first 50 breeding cows were given to households in Son Vi, Xin Cai, and Thuong Phung communes in Meo Vac district.

Rural residents get improved sanitation through CHOBA programme

East Meets West (EMW), Vietnam Women's Union (VWU) and other stakeholders in water supply, sanitation and public health met at a conference on December 5 to evaluate two years of implementation of the Community Hygiene Output-Based Aid (CHOBA) Programme in 10 provinces.

As many as 74,000 households have benefited from improved sanitation, speakers at the meeting revealed.

Local government partners attending the conference included national, provincial, and district-level representatives from VWU, Vietnam Health Environment Management Agency (VIHEMA), Vietnam Bank for Social Policies, the National Target Programme for Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Phase III, Centre for Preventive Health, and staff from international non-governmental organisations.

The programme aims to help disadvantaged households in rural areas gain access to improved sanitation and promoting hygiene behaviour change.

It is currently implemented in 496 communes of 10 provinces: Ninh Binh, Hai Duong, Thanh Hoa, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Tien Giang, Tra Vinh, Dong Thap, Hoa Binh and Soc Trang.

The programme was designed in line with the goals of the National Target Programme for Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Phase III.

Tran Thi Huong, vice president of the Vietnam Women's Union, said: "This project has deep social meaning because it brings practical benefits to the community, helping the poor to improve hygiene. Additionally, it has helped build local capacity in skills such as hygiene promotion, project management, communication, and IT.

She said the project, if successful, would contribute to achieving 10 percent of the targets for the National Target Programme for Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Phase III.

Key to the success of the CHOBA programme is its Output-Based Aid (OBA) approach.

OBA is a type of results-based financing well-known for improving the delivery of basic services when users are not able to pay the full cost of access to services and where performance-based rebates to complement or replace user fees are justified.

EMW has successfully pioneered the OBA approach in clean water, sanitation, and education since 2007.

EMW's OBA approach in rural sanitation works rewards independently verified results with cash.

Poor households that purchase latrines and demonstrate usage receive a rebate, and rural communes that reach milestones in sanitation coverage receive a financial award.

Grassroots promoters also receive a cash payment for successfully promoting latrine construction and arrange financing for poor beneficiaries.

"We greatly appreciate the OBA approach. It has demonstrated its impact and effectiveness. Consequently, VIHEMA is collaborating with EMW to expand this model for the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Output-Based Aid (WASHOBA) programme, currently being carried out in Binh Dinh, Bac Giang, Thai Nguyen and Ben Tre provinces," said Nguyen Huy Nga, the director of VIHEMA.

At the conference, delegates shared their experience and lessons learned from the programme.

More specifically, delegates discussed the engagement of local authorities, regulations on grassroots democracy, transparency in public financial management, socialisation, effective monitoring and evaluation systems, innovative methodology and dedication of volunteers and programme staff.

Vo Thi Hien, director of EMW's Sanitation Programme, said: "We want to share these valuable lessons in order to strengthen our work to fulfill an objective of the National Target Programme for Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Phase III – which is to see that 65 percent rural families, especially poor families, build hygienic latrines."

Vietnam-Japan Friendship Association’s Dong Thap chapter holds congress

The Dong Thap province chapter of the Vietnam-Japan Friendship Association hold its third congress (2014-2019) on December 8.

The congress elected a new executive board with 30 members. Deputy Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Hung was elected to as head of the association.

Over the past years, the chapter in collaboration with the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO) has organised numerous meetings and workshops with a view to promoting the province’s culture and image.

Apart from introducing Japan’s small scale projects, it has helped provincial agencies to meet and mobilise aid from Japan’s government and non-governmental organisations.

From 1997 to date, the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap has received over 83 billion VND (3.8 million USD) in assistance in the fields of health care, transportation, water supply and drainage, and education.

Of the assistance, the Japanese General Consulate provided medical equipment worth over 4 billion VND (184,000 USD) for general hospitals in Tam Nong and Tan Hong districts.

In addition to helping provincial businesses learn into and expand their export markets to Japan, the chapter acts as a bridge linking the countries’ businesses to seek opportunities for cooperation in agriculture, trade, human resource development and processing industry.

New expressway bad for Hanoi-Lao Cai rail line

The newly-built Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway offers a convenient route for travelers, but is also causing a sharp fall in ticket sales for the Hanoi-Lao Cai train route.

The Vietnamese railway sector is taking measures to attract passengers on Hanoi-Lao Cai train route

The route connects the capital with Lao Cai, the closest stop to Sapa, a well-known tourist destination. However, since the Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway was opened in September, the number of train passengers declined by 50 per cent.

Nguyen Van Binh, deputy director of of the Hanoi Railway Passenger Transport Company, said that the occupancy rate from Hanoi to Lao Cai is around 65 to 70 per cent, but from Lao Cai to Hanoi is close to zero.

“The reason is that passengers choose to catch coaches and buses on the newly-opened expressway to see landscape from the road,” Binh added.

Also, travelling by motor vehicle is much faster than by train. It takes only four hours on the 245-km road, while the train is eight hours.

In response to the decline in demand, ticket prices have been slashed by 25 per cent.

According to Binh, the demand for cargo transport remains high. Every year, around 1.7 million tonnes of apatite ore are transported on the route. The Vietnam Railway Corporation may focus more on cargo services in this context.

Binh added that the line is being upgraded, which should shorten travel time to 5.5 hours. The work is slated to be finished in the first quarter of 2015.

Hanoi reduces its tangle of wires

Municipal authorities have cleared more than 1,500km out of the planned 2,200km of dangerously low-hanging electric cable in the capital.

The effort is part of the initiative, Year of Orderly and Civilized Urban Space, started by the Hanoi People's Committee. Vietnam Electricity in Hanoi (EVN) cooperated with agencies to take down a number of unsightly and useless cable.

All visitors and residents of Hanoi are familiar with the tangles of wires strewn above the streets. Much of the cable is old and poses a danger.

Moreover, some locals complained that meter boxes are placed too low. On Hao Nam and Luong Ngoc Quyen streets, vendors even use these these boxes as their own tables.

The cleaning will be carried out on a total of 88 streets and will be finished by the end of the year. Nguyen Manh Tuan, head of the Department of Science and Environment in EVN Hanoi, said local authorities would provide aid by helping erect new power poles and replacing old ones.

Currently, they have 33 out of the planned 58 poles have been erected.

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