WB supports Vietnam's transport development network

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) and the World Bank (WB) on January 14 signed a US$ 250 million credit to improve the efficiency and sustainability of the road asset management and maintenance practices in Vietnam.

The funding, to support the Vietnam Road Asset Management (VRAMP), will come from the International Development Association, the WB Group’s funding resource for low income country.

“The road sector has significantly contributed to Vietnam’s recent rapid socioeconomic development by providing basic access for communities to markets, education, and health facilities, connecting provinces to national centers and reducing the cost of moving people and goods across the country,” said Victoria Kwakwa, the World Bank Country Director for Vietnam.

The project that WB is supporting will further contribute to the improvement and maintenance of the existing road network to maintain Vietnam’s strong economic performance, local business development, and improved social capital, she added.

The Australian Government will also provide AUD1.7 million to this project through a Trust Fund, managed by the WB, to the development and implementation of a comprehensive Road Asset Management System.

“Australia is providing assistance to Vietnam to build much needed transport infrastructure that will connect farmers and manufacturers to both domestic and international markets,” said Australian Ambassador Hugh Borrowman.

Apart from the Road Asset Management System, the project will help advance the reform agenda with increased usage of performance-based contracts and support the performance of the Road Maintenance Fund. It is anticipated that successful implementation of the VRAMP will lead to a more effective road preservation strategy, a more optimal road asset management, and the efficient programming of road network operations.

The project will directly benefit road users in 13 northern provinces in Vietnam. It will improve critical links in the national highway network and increase efficiency of public expenditure on road asset management.

Danish Ambassador honoured with insignia

Danish Ambassador to Vietnam John Nielsen has been presented an insignia in recognition of his contributions to Vietnam’s planning and investment sector.

The insignia was given by Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh in Hanoi on January 14.

With the assistance of the Danish Embassy through a business sector programme, the Central Institute for Economic Management under the Ministry of Planning and Investment has improved its capacity in conducting high quality research, thus putting forth important policy orientation analyses.

At the ceremony, Minister Vinh also presented insignia to Professor Finn Tarp, Director of the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

Prof. Tarp, who is also a lecturer at the Copenhagen University, has hosted a range of research programmes focusing on database and capacity building in Vietnam.

American veteran returns war momento

American war veteran John Wast on January 14 returned a hat belonging to Bui Duc Hung, a Vietnamese soldier who died in the struggle against the US, to his family in Phu Tho province.

Wast said he picked up the hat while patrolling a Vietnamese battlefield and crammed it into his backpack.  Five months later, he took it home as a war momento and displayed it on a bookshelf for the past 46 years.

Through the Development of Vietnam Endeavours Fund, a charity organisation, Wast found the owner of the hat and decided to take a return trip to Vietnam.

Wast and three other American war veterans handed over the hat to Hung’s family at a ceremony in Duong Non commune on January 14.  

Hung’s family was very grateful and said that they will keep it as priceless gift and a tribute to Hung’s sacrifice.

Artist rewarded for sketches of kidnapper for police

The Department of Health in Ho Chi Minh City on January 14 rewarded artist Phan Vu Linh, lecturer at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Fine Arts, VND5 million for helping police identify the kidnapper of a newborn baby in the General Hospital of District 7.

Linh sketched a caricature of the kidnapper after listening to descriptions by several witnesses. This sketch played a major role in helping police track down the suspect.

Linh was introduced to District 7’s police by an acquaintance. His sketch of the kidnapper is said to be 90 percent alike.

Fearing that her husband would leave her after a miscarriage, the suspect Le Thi Bich Tram, 25, kept pretending to be pregnant. After scouting many hospitals, she took a baby at General Hospital of District 7 because of its poor security.

On January 9, she kidnapped the newborn son of Nguyen Thi Minh Tam and Truong Van Hen while the mother went out to get milk and the father went home. Four days later, authorities took her into custody.

Three Vietnamese drug traffickers get death sentences

Three Vietnamese have been sentenced to death for their participation in a trans-national drug trafficking ring from Vietnam to China.

The People’s Court of Hoa Binh province on January 14 handed down the sentences to Do Anh Dung (born in 1976) from Dong Bang, Mai Chau district, Hoa Binh province, Ha Van Quan (born in 1983) from Mai Chau town and Bui Van Thuong (born in 1984) from Chieng Yen, Moc Chau district, Son La province.

According to the indictment, the three defendants joined the ring to have trafficked 720 cakes of heroin from Son La to Hanoi, Haiphong, Quang Ninh and then China between 2007 and 2009.

Every month the ring was said to make one or two trips, carrying 15 to 30 cakes of heroin.

The police arrested two and issued arrest warrants on four other accomplices of the ring.

Illegal gold mining still a headache in Phuoc Son District

Three miners from northern Hoa Binh Province were killed when an illegal mine collapsed in the central Quang Nam Province's Phuoc Hiep Commune last Friday.

Illegal gold mining continues to be a problem in central Quang Nam Province's Phuoc Son district, despite the best efforts of authorities. Five gold mines collapsed since last April, killing 12 people.

"We have set up a patrol team of police and forest rangers for clearing illegal gold mines from the district. Two-thirds of illegal gold mines have been found since regular patrols began last year. However, some illegal mining still occurs in isolated jungle areas," said Hoang Hoa, chief of the secretariat of the district people's committee.

Illegal miners from other provinces flocked to the jungles to dig for gold, creating headaches for local authorities concerning security and environment pollution, according to Hoa.

Referring to the recent deaths, he said those miners had been part of a group of 10 that started digging three days after a patrol had checked the area. Police have been searching for their remains since Friday.

"It's still a challenge for us. We have raised many forces to clear illegal mines in recent years, but the situation is worse in remote areas," said Nguyen Vien, director of the provincial department of natural resources and environment.

"It's easier for hundreds of local people to mine for gold than for us to deploy forces across a large area of jungle and mountains."

Last year, hundreds of miners from Phuoc Son Gold Company under Besra Gold, a Canadian-Australian joint-venture corporation, were unemployed when the company's Bong Mieu plant closed.

The company owed approximately US$19 million to contractors, the bank and the government.

Authorities seize 300 kilos of candied fruit

Officials in the Central Highland City of Da Lat confiscated a large quantity of sugared fruits on Monday when the owner could not prove the origins of the fruit.

Police and market watch workers investigated a house belonging to a resident, where they discovered over 330 kilos of sugared fruits packaged in bags or boxes with Chinese trademarks.

However, the owner was unable to produce receipts indicating the origins of the goods. The fruits were expected to be destroyed, unless accompanied by legal documents.

4,700 fake Ajinomoto packages seized

A local market watch team seized 4,700 packages of fake Ajinomoto or monosodium glutamate yesterday, from a local resident's warehouse in southern Tay Ninh Province's Hoa Thanh District.

Nguyen Thi Ly, the owner of the warehouse, admitted that she had bought the packages, worth about VND 3.7 million (US$174), from a person in HCM City's Lon Market three months ago.

Ly was fined VND15 million ($705) for trading in fake products.

State to cut funds for cancer drugs

The national Health Insurance Fund may decrease reimbursements for certain prescription drugs if a Health Ministry draft circular goes into effect.

Instead of being provided with these drugs for free, patients would pay up to 50 per cent of the retail price.

Patients will pay over VND20 million (US$950) and VND18 million ($857) per month for Erlotinib and Gefitinib, drugs used to treat lung cancer. Sorafenib, a type of medicine to treat cell cancer, will cost nearly VND60 million (nearly $3,000) per month without the State subsidy.

Subsidies will also be reduced to 70 per cent for Peginterferon, a powerful antiviral drug treatment for chronic hepatitis B and C.

Tran Thi Den, a 53-year-old resident of northern Hoa Binh Province who is undergoing lung cancer treatment at Ha Noi's K Hospital, was very worried about the reduction.

"I now have to pay over VND10 million ($480) for one stage of treatment. If the subsidy is cut, I would rather die of cancer than force my family to face financial difficulties," said Den, who gets a pension of around VND3 million ($150) per month.

Director of the Health Insurance Department under the Ministry of Health Tong Thi Song Huong said that the State cut subsidies for only "newly used" drugs. There were still 57 types of drugs for cancer treatment subsidised fully by the State.

A representative from the Viet Nam Social Insurance Agency said that cancer treatment drugs accounted for a large percentage of insurance expenses. The fund paid a total of VND48 trillion ($2 billion) last year, 71 per cent more than in 2012.

Poor families receive Tet gifts

The Vietnam Red Cross (VRC) will present 1 million gifts worth VND300,000 each to poor families in the lead up to the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday.

The VRC has received nearly 1.2 million gifts from domestic and foreign benefactors designated for disadvantaged families and Agent Orange victims during the upcoming Tet holiday.

About one-third to half of poor families across the country are expected to receive Tet gifts this year, according to the VRC.

*** Nearly 39,400 pupils at 227 schools in the northern mountain province of Dien Bien will be provided 4,100 tonnes of rice ahead of the Tet holiday.

Dien Bien has also mobilised more than 10,000 gifts worth VND500 million for poor workers during the country’s largest and longest festival.

On the occasion, the provincial Labour Federation handed over 6 houses, more than 500 blankets and clothes to disadvantaged workers.

Court sector deals with nearly 400,000 cases in 2013

The court sector managed to complete 364,819 out of the total 395,415 cases the national court system received in 2013, a Supreme People’s Court conference heard on January 14.

Addressing the conference, President Truong Tan Sang commended the sector for the workload it had completed despite limited human resources, noting that the number of cases has been increasing by an average of 10%-15% each year. The sector has also reduced the number of overdue cases by half, at the same time creating remarkable improvements in the guidance of law implementation.

The President said that with the revised Constitution taking effect from January 1, the court sector has the task of concretising the stipulations of the revised Constitution relating to judicial rights. The sector must also conduct systematic and comprehensive research on the jurisdiction of courts and judging councils.

He also asked the Supreme People’s Court to continue strengthening its staff in terms of both professional and ethical qualifications.

In mapping out tasks for 2014, the conference agreed to prioritise implementing judicial reform in line with the Party and National Assembly’s resolutions. Simultaneously, the sector will carry on with reforms of court procedures in the direction of ensuring democracy, transparency and publicity in accordance with the law.

At the same time, courts at all levels will focus on handling major cases, particularly those involving corruption, while promoting their reconciliation role in civil disputes and encouraging dialogue in administrative cases.

100 bln VND raised for charity through humanity portal

Almost 100 billion VND (about 4.7 million USD) was raised for charitable activities in Vietnam through the National Humanity Portal 1400, which was established five years ago by the Ministry of Information and Communications.

The news was released at the Ministry’s get-together in Hanoi on January 14, which reviewed the portal’s operation and outlined ways to optimise its function in the coming time.

The event was also to honour active charitable organisations in partnership with the portal in humanitarian campaigns.

Speaking at the ceremony, President of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Nguyen Thien Nhan urged the portal to continue bettering its management and working closely with telecom firms in people-centred charitable campaigns.

He also called on Vietnamese citizens and international friends to give support to the portal to timely provide relief for disadvantaged people.

According to Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Bac Son, the portal received nearly 10 million messages from over 40 SMS campaigns launched, generating nearly 100 billion VND for humanitarian activities over the past five years.

Through the portal, assistance from many social organisations, ministries, sectors and individuals and rice were distributed to needy people across the country. Gifts and scholarships were provided for poor students and many child patients with congenital heart disease were operated free of charge.-V

Hanoi tightens land-use management work

Chairman of the Hanoi municipal People’s Committee Nguyen The Thao has asked sectors, departments, and district authorities to intensify State management to promptly prevent and handle cases of using farming and public land for illegal purposes.

Local authorities are also required to accelerate the process of granting land-use right certificates to eligible users as well as seriously implement planning schemes on building the capital, using land, and developing agriculture, among others.

The city has recorded positive progress in the field over the past time, according to the municipal People’s Committee.

Among nearly 19,300 plots of land being used by groups or organisations, it has certified nearly 8,100 plots, accounting for 42 percent of the total land plots.

In the past year alone, 1,200 land-use right certificates were granted to eligible organisations.

Hanoi plans to grant at least 2,000 certificates to organisations and more than 45,570 others to households and individuals in 2014.

In addition, it will examine 144,000 ha for which prospective land users were denied certificates because of insufficient documents.

‘Family doctor' model ensures comprehensive care

Once every three weeks, Tran Van An, a 65-year-old man with type 2 diabetes, sees a "family doctor" at the District 10 Hospital in HCM City.

The regular visits to the doctor for more than a year has helped him effectively manage his chronic medical problems.

"The doctor keeps my health records and makes routine health checks," An, who lives in ward 15 in District 11, said.

"I have been able to prevent serious diabetes complications because of regular health checks and following the doctor's instructions."

With a prior appointment, it takes him just half an hour at most to complete his regular health check at the family medical clinic, he said, adding that he has to wait for two to three hours at other places.

The "family doctor" model requires the physicians to regularly inquire patients about work, lifestyle, and family health history to decide on the course of treatment, resulting in a close doctor-patient relationship, Dr Nguyen Thanh Binh of the family medical clinic said.

The doctors spend an average of 10 minutes on each patient and carefully track their health records, he said.

"Patients can call me for advice.

"Family medicine provides a healthcare model that is fully patient-centred, allowing patients to choose a doctor they feel satisfied with and shortening the waiting time for check-ups."

The clinic has 25 doctors treating 300-350 patients every day, Le Thanh Tung, deputy director of the hospital, said.

The clinic, set up at the hospital in October last year, manages more than 11,200 health records, he said.

It provides great satisfaction to patients due to the quality of healthcare and by saving them time and money, he said.

Patients with health insurance cards get all the normal benefits despite the personalised service, he added.

If patients require another specialist or to be hospitalised for treatment, family doctors guide their patients as well as update information about the treatment in patients' health records.

The doctors help patients both with acute illnesses and chronic medical problems like diabetes, hypertension, osteoarthritis, and asthma, Tung said.

An said: "I like the model because my chronic medical conditions are better managed by a single doctor with my health records being regularly updated.

"Besides health check and treatment, the doctor is willing to advise me about healthy eating, appropriate physical activities, and good habits to reduce the risk of serious complications.

"My wife and son also bought health insurance at the clinic due to its good quality of service as well as convenience for insured patients."

Nguyen Thanh Hiep, head of Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine's family medicine department, said a family doctor is the first person people turn to for treating medical conditions.

"Family doctors take care of the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of both patients and their families," he said.

"They are trained to take care of most health care needs and provide comprehensive care through all the stages of a patient's life.

"Family doctors play an essential role in the health care system, providing routine health screening, preventive care, and counselling on lifestyle changes to patients."

The university has worked with the city's Department of Health to provide training to the family doctors, he said.

District 10 Hospital is one of four in the city to adopt the model, the others being Go Vap District Hospital, Binh Tan District Hospital, and District 2 Hospital.

Nguyen Ngoc Duy, head of the Department of Health's planning division, said all district-level hospitals and community primary care clinics in wards and communes would adopt the model by 2015.

At least 30 private healthcare clinics would also have family doctors by 2015 under the 2013-20 national plan on development of family doctor clinics, he said.

By 2020 all general hospitals and private clinics in the city would be in the programme, he said.

The city is focusing on training human resources for the programme and developing a system for maintaining health records electronically, he said.

"Family medicine model is one of the fundamental measures to improve community healthcare and reduce patient overload at major hospitals in the city," he added.

VN strives for health-related MDGs

The Government has issued a resolution to speed up the realization of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on healthcare in Viet Nam.

The country is doing her utmost to achieve the remaining MDGs in 2015.

Ministries and localities are asked to raise their sense of awareness of realizing the MDGs.

MDGs should be incorporated in local socio-economic development plans especially in mountainous and difficult provinces and ethnic minority areas.

Under the Resolution, central and local budgets would be prioritized for the MDGs on mother and child mortality as well as HIV/AIDS prevention which Viet Nam has yet attained and the maintenance of the other achieved goals such as child malnutrition, tuberculosis and malaria prevention, clean water and environmental sanitation.

Ministries and localities are asked to raise financial funds for the prevention of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

In addition, technical measures would be effectively implemented such as the “Milk for schools” program in favor of child malnutrition in poor and difficult regions or areas frequently ravaged by natural disasters or the model with “child-safe home, child-safe school and child-safe community.”

In the 1990-2015 period, Viet Nam has committed to fulfilling the MDGs on health relating to halving child malnutrition rate; cutting under five years old mortality rate by two-thirds; lessening mother mortality ratio by three-fourths; achieving universal access to reproductive health; preventing and driving back HIV/AIDS infection by 2015; providing universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all victims by 2010; stopping and controlling malaria and other diseases by 2015; and lowering the rate of people who do not access to safe water and basic sanitation conditions by half.

USAID announces Development Cooperation Strategy for VN

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on January 14 in Ha Noi announced its Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) for Viet Nam.

The CDCS defined USAIDS’s development assistance program in Viet Nam in the 2014-2018 period, following the success of the USAID-backed programs on State administrative assistance and economic growth in the country.

In the coming time, the program would help improve policy making, environment, institution and public management and strengthen supervision, management and accountability mechanism of the Government.

In addition, the CDCS would support capacity building on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement and enhance the participation of disadvantageous groups of people like women, ethnic minorities and vulnerable people in socio-economic life.

The US$ 42 million program will be implemented by a US consulting firm. The Vietnamese side includes the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and the State Audit of Viet Nam.

VNA/VNS/VOV/SGGP/VGP