New influenza vaccine factory put into operation

A vaccine factory capable of producing about 1.5 million doses of A/H5N1 influenza vaccine for human use a year became operational on December 12 in the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa.

According to the Institute of Vaccines and Medical Biology (IVAC) under the Ministry of Health, factory is one of the six first ones funded by the World Health Organisation in developing countries.

Approved by the Prime Minister in 2008, the factory, which meets the good manufacturing practice standard known as WHO-GMP, successfully apply the technology of producing the vaccine from inseminated eggs.

A farm breeding 7,000 chickens to provide biologically safe materials for the factory was set up.

In 2011, IVAC produced three lots of A/H1N1 influenza vaccine which were successfully tested on human in southern Long An province.

Nine more lots were produced in 2012, meeting the quality standards of the WHO and European Pharmacopoeia. The lots are now being tested.

Established in 1978 in NhaTrang city, the IVAC’s function is to research and manufacture vaccines and medical biological products and provide related services and consultations.

Hanoi students bag medals at int’l science Olympiad

Six 10th graders of Hanoi-based gifted schools recently won a gold and five silver medals at the 10th International Junior Science Olympiad (IJSO) held in India.

The gold medal went to Le Manh Tuan, a student of chemistry at Hanoi-Amsterdam Gifted High School.

The five silver medals were awarded to Dao Vu Quang, a maths student, Tran Nhat Quang, a physics student, and Pham Quang Hieu, a chemistry student, all from Hanoi-Amsterdam Gifted High School.

The other two silver medals were presented to Khuat Duy Hong, a maths student from Son Tay talented high school, and Le Ba Truong Giang, a maths student from Nguyen Hue talented high school.

This is the highest result Vietnamese students have achieved in such competition.

Vietnamese students won six bronzes in 2011 and three silver and three bronze medals in 2012.

They are normally tested in maths, physics, chemistry, and biology.

This year’s event was held at Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune city, about 170km south of Mumbai state, from December 3-12.

Quang Binh province names street after General Vo Nguyen Giap

The home province of the legendary General Vo Nguyen Giap has approved a resolution to name a new street in Dong Hoi city after him.

The resolution was adopted at a meeting of the Quang Binh provincial People’s Council on December 12.

The new street, seven kilometres long and 60 metres wide, runs along the coast and is the widest roadway in Dong Hoi city to date. In the future, the it will connect the two districts of Quang Ninh and Le Thuy - the General’s hometown.

According to Director of the Quang Binh provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Luong Van Luyen, with its good location and modern infrastructure, Vo Nguyen Giap Street will be the most beautiful roadway in Dong Hoi city.

General Vo Nguyen Giap passed away on October 4 at the age of 103. A two-day National Funeral for the General was held nationwide on October 12-13. He was buried in his home province of Quang Binh on October 13.-

Fund raised for Philippine victims of typhoon Haiyan

As many as 1,000 people got together in a charity gala in Ho Chi Minh City on December 12 to raise fund for the Philippine victims of typhoon Haiyan.

The gala, themed “Circle of love”, was co-organised by the UNESCO office in Vietnam and the UNESCO Centre for Education and Culture (UNESCO-CEP), with support from business unions, organisations, schools and consulate generals in the city.

Through a string of activities, including art performances, auction, fund raising, participants donated almost 170 million VND (some 8,000 USD), which will be then sent to the Philippines’ Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City.

The Philippines’ Honourary Consul General Le Thi Phung expressed her gratitude to the heartfelt sympathy Vietnamese people have offered to Philippine people who are undertaking recovery efforts.

The assistance sent by international friends will help Philippine people quickly overcome this hard time, she noted.

Super typhoon Haiyan, which swept through the Philippines in early November, was considered the most devastating storm in the world.

As many as 5,632 people have been confirmed dead, while 1,759 are still missing, according to local report.-

Hue-based plant fined $12,000 for polluted discharge

The People's Committee of central Thua Thien Hue Province fined a local tapioca starch production plant VND260 million (US$12,000) for polluting the surrounding environment.

The plant, which is located at the province's Phong An Commune, Phong Dien District, and owned by HCM City-based Fococev Foodstuff and Investment Company, has discharged untreated waste water for nearly five years, according to officials.

The committee ordered the plant management to have greater control over the waste water and repair damage caused by pollution to a nearby stream within three months.

The pollution has also affected cultivation and aquaculture in the commune. The committee's decision, however, failed to address compensation by the plant's owners to local farmers.

Training courses help ethnic girls

Sung Thi Vu serves a foreign customer at her workplace in Sa Pa Town. Vu is one of the H'Mong youngsters who benefit from local authorities' projects to reduce heavy and dangerous labour among children by raising school attendance levels and promoting vocational training. Photo VNS

Sung Thi Vu, a 16-year-old H'Mong girl from Su Pan Commune, looked quite professional as she worked as a waitress.

After handing the menu to a foreign customer, Vu gave him some time to read over the menu and, in clear English, she asked, "Are you ready to order?"

When the foreign man placed his order and thanked her, Vu replied politely, "You are welcome."

And then, quickly, she went to the bar to ask for the drink the customer had ordered.

Vu has been working at the H'Mong Sapa Hotel for about six months and said she was satisfied with her job.

She said she earned a stable income of between VND2.5 million and VND3.5 million (US$119-166) per month, which enabled her to live adequately and take care of her family. She was also offered accommodation at the hotel.

This is thanks to Vu's decision to enroll in a vocational training course at Hoa Sua Restaurant, which is part of a project conducted by the Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs of Sa Pa District, in co-operation with the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Last year, before the course she was unskilled and tried to earn money by selling souvenirs to foreigners in the centre of Sa Pa Town. She was then 15 years old and had to walk 20 kilometres each day to the centre of Sa Pa from her home.

Vu had just finished junior secondary school at that time and decided not to go to high school, thinking that she had enough school and that she should prepare to be married early, like many other H'Mong girls.

Her past was shared by many H'Mong young girls and boys, who have had to earn money since a very young age by begging or chasing foreign tourists to persuade them to purchase souvenirs.

In 2011, the Sa Pa District Labour Department decided to put an end to this situation, as they realised how tourists were annoyed when being chased after by local children seeking money and added that selling souvenirs on the streets can negatively affect youngsters' lives.

Many young children, from an early age, had to do this work to support their poor families. However, their studies were then neglected, and they might potentially become victims of sexual abuse, according to Nguyen Ngoc Hinh, deputy chairman of the People's Committee of Sa Pa District, a popular tourist area in the northern province of Lao Cai.

As part of a child labour project conducted with the ILO's support, the local Labour Department worked to create a list of underprivileged children who had to work since an early age to support their family, then persuaded the families not to make their children quit their studies to work, and introduced options for vocational training for the children.

Vu is one of the children who benefited from the project. She, and 37 fellow trainees, finished a vocational training course for hospitality and baking professions at Hoa Sua Restaurant in late June. Out of 38 trainees, 31 found jobs at restaurants and hotels.

As they are now at least 16 years old, they are legally allowed to work in professions that do not require heavy labour, while still being able to support their families.

The restaurant is now conducting another course with 17 young trainees, and still seeking new students from underprivileged backgrounds.

Tinh A Lu, a current trainee at the restaurant, shared that he was offered free-of-charge vocational training in the hospitality profession, while also offered accommodation at the restaurant.

Nguyen Van Quan, teacher and manager at Hoa Sua Restaurant, said the training project was still working to increase the number of young people, like Vu or Lu.

He said most of the trainees had only finished junior secondary school.

Quan also shared that the training programme were facing certain challenges due to language barriers, as many trainees are native speakers of H'Mong language and not fluent in Vietnamese. Problems also have arisen due to local customs, as some young people attempted to discontinue the course to marry early.

Therefore, along with vocational training, he has also taught trainees to speak better Vietnamese and English, while trying to persuade some not to quit their training.

In addition to the vocational training programmes, such as at Hoa Sua, local authorities have also worked to raise community awareness to cope with the serious problem of child labour. Communications about child-ren's rights have now been included into regular extra-curricular programmes for junior secondary school students.

Pham Minh Vo, principal of the Lao Chai Junior Secondary School, said the school's teachers sometimes had to visit the homes of students to talk to their families about the importance of education and persuade them to have their children pursue further studies.

There are days when the school even invites former students, now successful professionals, to talk to the students about why education should not be neglected.

Vu pointed out that the situation has improved considerably, as students go to school more regularly. Once every week, some students still skipped one or two lessons to stay at home and work at chores to support their families, but attendance has been greatly improved.

"Before we saw three to six students quit their studies, but now there are no longer cases like that."

Vu also said the percentage of students who continue their studies to high school level also increased.

In particular, he pointed out that during the 2011-12 school year, the proportion was only 25 per cent, but for the 2012-13 school year, it rose to 52 per cent.

The Sa Pa District People's Committee's report also confirmed this improvement in schools throughout the district.

Along with improved class attendance, the number of youngsters going to work as beggars and street vendors has also been reduced.

The committee added that continued efforts would be focused on child care and protecting children in the coming years, with vocational training programmes for youngsters and more educational work.

Japan helps VN develop biofuels

Advanced bio-refining technologies, including for production of bio-fuels, are being developed under a Japanese-Vietnamese technical project, experts said.

Under the five-year Sustainable Integration of Local Agriculture and Biomass Industries project, two bio-mass plants have been set up at the HCM City University of Technology and Thai My village in the city's Cu Chi District to serve research activities, Assoc Prof Vu Dinh Thanh, the university's rector, said.

The demonstration plant in Thai My displays the bio-refinery technologies that have been developed to convert bio-mass into bio-energy and other materials used by village households.

The Vietnamese and Japanese researchers have developed a sustainable model to integrate agriculture and bio-mass, focusing on bio-mass conversions for the production of bio-fuels such as bio-ethanol and bio-gas, Thanh told an annual symposium held to report progress in HCM City yesterday.

The symposium included a panel discussion on opportunities to establish an industry-government-academic partnership.

"The results of the project are expected to break ground not only for further research but also promising energy technologies," he said.

Kazuhiro Mochidzuki from the Institute of Industrial Science, the University of Tokyo, said: "We are trying to develop the system design, process engineering, and key technologies for small-scale bio-mass utilisation based on rice farming in Viet Nam."

Advanced bio-mass systems should focus on increasing the efficiency of bio-mass conversion and expanding the use of unused bio-mass resources, he said, adding that the use of bio-mass contributes to the reduction of greenhouse gases.

The project, carried out together with the Japan International Cooperation Agency and Japan Science and Technology Agency, began in 2009 with a grant from the Japanese Government, was the first of its kind in Viet Nam.

It also involves the university, the HCM City Department of Science and Technology, the Institute of Tropical Biology, the Ha Noi University of Science and Technology, and the University of Tokyo.

It will wrap up next September.

Da Nang plant to treat wastewater

A wastewater treatment plant will be built in Non Nuoc in Ngu Hanh Son district, at a cost of VND21.7 billion (US$1.03 million), the city of Da Nang has announced.

The plant, which will begin construction next year, will treat wastewater from the craft village, with a capacity of 1,500 cubic metres per day.

The city has located a 37ha area to relocate stone art production centres, but it has not begun due to a lack of funds.

According to the city's survey, the 400-year-old village, which is home to over 400 households with 5,000 craftsmen, has been heavily polluted in the residential quarters over past decades.

The production centres released over 21 tonnes of dust and 25,000 liters of sulfuric acid annually, as well as noise, into the environment.

Around 20 per cent of craftsmen suffer from lung disease due to breathing the polluted dust, according to officials.

In another development, the central city will start its Action Plan on Responding to Climate Change in Urban Areas beginning next year, Dang Quang Cuong, an official from the city's climate change office, said yesterday.

The plan, which is part of the Support Program to Respond to Climate Change (SPRCC), with an aid package worth 136,000 euros ($174,000) funded by the Agency for Development of France (AFD), will conduct a survey on greenhouse gas emissions from commercial and residential buildings in urban areas, before creating a future reduction programme.

The City proposed four low-carbon model projects, including battery powered bicycles, technologies to curb greenhouse gas emissions and to use renewable energy sources, a metro system and rapid bus transit.

According to the city's Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Da Nang had cut 12,000 tonnes of carbon emissions between 2007-11 through a pilot project. The city is set to become a green city by 2020.

Last year, Da Nang was selected as an APEC Low-Carbon Model Town Project.

Ministries unite to track down overloaded trucks

Ministries of transport and public security would take drastic measures to find and punish overloaded trucks, being blamed for damaging roads and threatening the safety of those using the roads.

Early this year, the Prime Minister asked ministries to curb overloaded trucks and, late last month, another similar order was made, asking ministries to conduct more inspections to detect and punish violators.

However, according to the Transport Ministry, the number of overloaded trucks on roads across the country was increasing in more a complicated way. Nearly half of the trucks that were checked were found to carry more goods than allowed and, in some cases, carried as much as twice the allowed loading capacity.

On December 3, Vong Bridge in southern Vinh Long Province, which was designed to carry vehicles up to 30 tonnes, collapsed after a man deliberately drove a 60-tonne truck across the bridge. The incident caused losses of billions of Vietnamese dong and blocked traffic from the province to the neighbouring province of Tra Vinh.

Further, in the last 11 months, about 26,255 trucks were found to be overloaded and 22,568 drivers had their driver's licences revoked. Authorities also forced violators to unload over 76,500 tonnes of goods and collected fines worth over VND57 billion (US$2.7 million).

Deputy Minister of Transport Le Dinh Tho said that as a way to curb overloaded trucks, the ministry set up ten mobile weighing stations along national highways to check them.

The weighing stations were used to detect and punish overloaded trucks and the ministry would soon set up more stations across the country, he said.

However, director of northern Yen Bai Province's Public Security Department Dang Tran Chieu said drivers who drove overloaded trucks used tricks, including choosing other roads to avoid having their trucks weighed at the stations or sprinkling water on tyres, which made weighing equipment less accurate.

If authorities tightened inspections, transport firms would halt their goods being delivered to local factories, he said, noting that the move might have a negative impact on local workers and the province's economy.

Chairman of the Viet Nam Automobile Transportation Association Nguyen Van Thanh said that drivers were partly responsible for driving overloaded trucks but, in cases, they reluctantly did so as owners wanted to load trucks as much as possible to reduce transportation costs.

If drivers refuse to carry, they would not be hired again, he said, adding that punishing drivers would not solve the problem of overloaded trucks.

Deputy Director of HCM City's Transport Department Duong Hong Thanh said 80 per cent of trucks received goods and departed from storehouses or ports, so authorities should tighten inspection there to curb overloaded trucks on roads.

However, if a port authority more closely examines the loading of vehicles, goods owners and transport firms might choose other ports, he said, urging more sanctions for goods owners and port authorities if vehicles are found overloaded.

Meanwhile, Colonel Tran Son Ha, vice head of the Road Traffic Police under the Public Security Ministry said that this year, they would further co-operate with port authorities to detect and punish overloaded truck violators at warehouses and ports, while continuing to help drivers and goods owners improve their understanding of the issue.

Vietnam seeks to improve healthcare quality

The second national forum seeking to further improve healthcare quality is taking place in Ho Chi Minh City on December 12-13.

Jointly organised by the Ministry of Public Health and the European Union-funded Project on enhancing the building capacity of the health sector, the event allows health executives and workers to work together in building action programmes to manage risks arising from diagnosis and treatment.

New standards on hospital quality set out in 2013 are introduced to participants.

According to Dr. Luong Ngoc Khue, Head of the Ministry’s Treatment and Examination Department, many documents were issued to enhance the quality of healthcare services.

The health sector is, however, being challenged by hospital overload, loose management over private healthcare clinics, the certification of standard testing services conducted by hospitals, and drug abuse.

Participants heard that the EU has assisted Vietnam to improve healthcare services with an official assistance package worth 168 million EUR in 2007-2013. It has agreed to provide 114 million EUR more for Vietnam’s health sector from now till 2017 to enable poor and near-poor people to access high-quality services in both hospitals and local medical stations.

Vietnam, India to sign healthcare deal next year

The Vietnamese and Indian Ministers of Health have agreed to build a memorandum of understanding on bilateral cooperation and sign it in 2014 to enable the two countries’ broader partnership in healthcare.

During their December 12 talks in New Delhi, Vietnamese Health Minister Nguyen Kim Tien and her Indian counterpart GhulamNabi Azad affirmed to strengthen healthcare cooperation on the foundation of the half-century ties between the two countries.

They discussed future cooperative activities, including the application of information technology in the management of healthcare system and hospitals and the prevention of epidemics, especially newly-emerging ones.

Minister Tien and her entourage, who are on a three-day visit to India, also visited the Apollo Hospitals Group where they talked about healthcare finance, doctor and nurse exchange programmes and investment opportunity in hospital construction in Vietnam.

The delegation also visited some healthcare establishments in New Delhi and Bod Gaya.

Marie Stopes-funded project eyes more female workers

A reproductive health project funded by t he Marie Stopes International Organisation in Vietnam has set to help 70,000 more female workers in southern Dong Nai province access reproductive health services from now to 2015.

With additional funding of US$550,000, the project will also provide check-ups for 5,000 poor workers in the locality, heard a conference on December 12 to review the project in 2010-2013 and initiate activities to 2015.

During the 2010-2013 period, more than 80,000 female workers in Dong Nai have benefited from the project, including 1,200 ones who had access to financially-supported contraceptive methods.

Statistics from the United Nations Population Fund show that one dollar invested in family planning can save eight dollars, and help reduce the fatality of mothers and children caused by early birth-giving and unexpected pregnancy.

Dong Nai is home to 31 industrial zones (IZs), including those still under construction, according to the provincial industrial zones authority.

The province plans to increase the IZs to 34 by 2015.

Vietnam calls for greater int'l support for HIV/AIDS prevention

Vietnam desires to receive continual support and cooperation from donors and international friends to maintain its achievements in combating HIV/AIDS, drug and prostitution.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc who also heads the National Committee for HIV/AIDS, Drug and Prostitution Prevention and Control told a December 12 meeting in Hanoi with representatives from international donors of Vietnam.

Vietnam greatly values the donors’ support in finance, technology and experience in this work, noting that the country is still facing challenges in the fight against HIV/AIDS, as well as obstacles hindered by falling international fund and new problems in this field, he said.

UN Resident Coordinator in Vietnam Pratibha Mehta hailed Vietnam’s efforts in boosting socio-economic development and combating HIV/AIDS, drug and prostitution.

The UN official said the country should focus its resources on preventing and controlling HIV/AIDS, while multiplying good models in the field to fulfill its millennium development goals (MDGs).

Representatives from international organizations also pledged technical assistance and experience sharing to help the Vietnamese Government carry out HIV/AIDS, drug and prostitution prevention and control programmes to ensure the country’s achievements in this field.

Workshop prepares for UN anti-corruption convention review

A training workshop was held in Hanoi on December 12 in preparing for Vietnam’s self-assessment of its implementation of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC).

The workshop’s aim is to review its performance during the second cycle (2015-2019).

The country has also been selected to join the review of UNCAC implementation in China and Congo next year.

Vietnam joined the convention in 2009 and has actively exercised its rights as a party to the Convention. The country fulfilled its duties in the first review cycle that focuses on chapter II on criminalisation and law enforcement and chapter IV on international cooperation, both as a reviewed country and a member of the reviewing group, the delegates were told.

Under the assessment, Vietnam’s legal system generally meets UNCAC requirements. However, the country’s ranking in the 2013 corruption perceptions index remains modest,  being placed  seventh among the Southeast Asian nations in the ranking compiled by the Germany-based Transparency International.

Toll hikes concern transport operators

Transport operators are concerned that road toll-gate charges will leap up to two-and-a-half times the present rates on January 1.

This was announced in a circular promulgated earlier this month by the Ministry of Finance.

The document, Circular 159/2013/TT-BTC, aims to enable the Government to get a return on investment in road construction under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) system.

The new fees, which are related to the types of vehicles and their load capacity, range from VND15,000 (US cents 70) to VND200,000 ($9.50) per vehicle passing through each toll station.

Motorbikes, and vehicles used for national defence, public security and emergencies, such as ambulances and fire-engines will be exempt.

Routes under the BOT system will not be allowed to collect the new fees until their investors complete construction.

"We carefully considered the current condition of the economy and the cost of living. So, the new fees specified in the new circular are acceptable," Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Hong Truong told Giao Thong Van Tai (Transport) newspaper.

However, most transport firms think the higher toll fees are unreasonable, according to Nguyen Van Thanh, chairman of the Viet Nam Automobile Transportation Association.

"Investors were mobilis-ed to fund road construction and upgrade under the BOT system because the Government cannot afford the cost. The tolls collected will repay the investors, which must be managed and supervised by the Government," Thanh told Nguoi Lao Dong (The Labourer) newspaper.

Thanh added that if transport firms had to pay more fees, they would pass the cost on to customers, which was not good under current economic conditions where people are living with the pressure of inflation.

Viet Nam, Finland set directions for future forestry co-operation

Viet Nam and Finland discussed new horizons for bilateral co-operation in the forestry sector at a forum yesterday, focusing on increased sharing of knowhow and establishing new partnerships.

Further co-operation should contribute to sustainable management and protection of forests and promote the role of forests in protecting the environment, improving livelihoods of local populations and mitigating climate change impacts, while ensuring economic development, Finnish ambassador Kimmo Lahdevirta said.

Finland has supported Viet Nam's forestry sector development since 1996 with assistance of more than US$43 million, the forum heard.

Hospital labs to get examinations

External quality assessments will be carried out at more than 900 health facilities in the country next year, according to the Ministry of Health.

The assessments will be supervised by the quality control centres of Ha Noi Medical University, HCM City Medical University and HCM City's Department of Health.

Dr Luong Ngoc Khue, head of the ministry's Treatment and Examination Management Department, made the announcement yesterday at a two-day National Forum on Hospital Quality Management, organised by the EU-funded Health Sector Capacity Support Project.

Assessments began in 2007, and this year, 714 hospitals have implemented them, according to the ministry.

Tran Huu Tam, director of HCM City's Centre for Standardisation and Quality Control in Medical Lab, said that laboratories were becoming more concerned about quality management of clinical testing.

He said that external assessments of clinical tests in several fields had increased from one in 2007 to 11 in 2013.

The rate of errors, he said, had fallen year by year, especially in biochemistry, which dropped from 18.6 per cent in 2007 to 12.2 per cent in 2013.

For hematology, the rate had fallen from18.4 per to 8.9 per cent, and for immuno-assays, from 13.3 per cent to 5.3 per cent.

Khue said all hospitals in the country had been provided with guiding circulars on how to implement laboratory quality management.

In addition, health departments in provinces and cities have been told to carry out laboratory quality control at hospitals, Khue said.

Many hospitals are organising training courses on laboratory quality control for their staff, he said.

Khue said that hospitals in the past had not devoted enough funds for tests of quality assurance at their laboratories.

Speaking to Viet Nam News, the Deputy Minister of Health, Nguyen Thi Xuyen, said that many hospitals disagreed about lab results, and that some patients were required to take too many tests.

Tam suggested that a list of required medical tests for each type of disease should be established to prevent the over-use of tests and discrepancies between lab results.

Also, during the forum, attendees discussed how to improve treatment at hospitals.

Khue said that 110 hospitals in the country had outlined plans to do so.

At least 191 hospitals have already made technical improvements, resulting in more effective treatment, he said.

Tran Thi Trung Chien, former Minister of Health, said the key to better quality was investment in facilities and higher qualifications for doctors, nurses and managers.

She said that all hospitals should develop plans based on the ministry's criteria for hospital quality.

The forum was held to raise awareness about the importance of quality healthcare and patient safety.

Police check carload of silver jewellery

A consignment of nearly 100 kilos of illegal silver jewellery was seized by the police in the northern province of Ha Giang on Tuesday.

Bui Van Hai, 34, from the northern province of Hai Duong's Binh Giang district was pulled over in his Hyundai car and his papers were subjected to intensive scrutiny. It was found that he was carrying a large amount of silver jewellery, and the figures in his paperwork did not match the amount of goods he had with him. The jewellery, weighing 94,2 kilos, was kept in a suitcase and two pieces of luggage, along with VND293 million (US$15,000) in cash.