Vingroup may build 5-storey HCMC underground parking

The HCM City Department of Transport has recommended that the People's Committee should award the construction of an underground parking lot at Hoa Lu Stadium in District 1 to Vingroup after the original bidder, Indochina Group, pulled out of the project.

Vingroup, a leading property developer in Viet Nam, will build a five-storey lot at a cost of VND3.4 trillion (US$151.8 million) in the build-own-operate mode if it does win the deal.

Construction will take place between 2016 and 2018, with the lot having parking space of 23,392sq.m to accommodate 2,548 cars and 1,873 motorbikes.

Vingroup did a feasibility study last February after the Indochina Group had pulled out a month earlier citing low returns on a huge investment.

Since 2005 the city has been planning to build more than 10 underground parking lots in District 1, including at Lam Son Square, Le Van Tam Park, and Tao Dan Park, but work has not begun on any of them due to procedural and financial difficulties.

Black box data incriminates over 5,100 vehicles

More than 5,100 drivers were fined in the past 11 months, utilising the data recorded from their vehicles' black boxes.

This information was released by Nguyen Van Huyen, general director of the Directorate for Roads of Viet Nam under the Ministry of Transport.

In November alone, transport authorities nationwide penalised 342 drivers whose vehicles violated regulations.

Of these, 328 cars have been ordered off the road for a month and four companies have had their business licences revoked, while 10 others were refused badges altogether.

Huyen said these records of punishment were highlighted in reports from 37 of the total 63 cities and provinces, which were sent to the directorate.

The records did not include the issuance of warnings and other notices from 26 other provinces, he said.

Data from the directorate also showed that its information system received records from some 76.06 per cent of vehicles with black boxes by the end of November.

To reduce traffic accidents, especially those related to passenger buses, Huyen said provincial and city authorities should instruct their transport departments to increase supervision and deal strictly with violations.

New partnership agreement to improve maternal health

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the multinational company Johnson & Johnson today signed a partnership agreement to improve maternal and neonatal health.

It particularly focused on the most vulnerable women and children in ethnic minority communities.

During five years, the project is expected to build capacity for more than 3,000 health workers and ethnic minority midwives to handle skilled birth assistance, early essential newborn care and Kangaroo-mother care.

Coaching and supportive supervision are also provided to health workers and midwives in the four project provinces to ensure high-quality performance in maternal and child health care.

Communication activities will also be conducted to create demand for high-quality health services among pregnant women, those at child-bearing age and those with small children.

The aim is also to provide at least three antenatal care check-ups for 80 per cent of pregnant women and to contribute to reducing the rates of mortality among mothers, newborns and infant in the four provinces of Lao Cai, Dien Bien, Gia Lai and Kon Tum.

Luu Thi Hong, director of the Maternal and Child Health Department under the Ministry of Health, said Viet Nam had made remarkable progress in saving the lives of mothers and children over the past few decades.

Maternal and child deaths were reduced significantly between 1990 and 2014. However, more than 18,000 newborns are estimated to have died every year in the country during that period, she said.

The main causes of neonatal mortality were asphyxia, infection and premature delivery. Large disparities exist between regions and ethnic groups, Hong said.

For example, the infant mortality rate in Kon Tum Central Highlands Province was 2.6 times higher than the national average. The child mortality rate among ethnic minorities remained three times higher than that of the Kinh majority.

Hong said most of these deaths were preventable with simple interventions, which included skilled birth attendance, early essential newborn care, early initiation of breast feeding, and Kangaroo-mother care for premature and low-weight babies.

Youssouf Abdel-Jelil, UNICEF Representative in Viet Nam, said, "We cannot let these preventable and treatable causes continue to claim the lives of mothers and newborns. We must act to ensure that all children are born safely and in good health."

STEM institute opens centres in four cities

STEM Institute has opened centres for robotic science, computer science and entertainment technology in Ha Noi, Da Nang, HCM City and Can Tho.

The DTT Educspec Joint Stock Company, which owns the centres, provides STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education. The centres, which opened last week, offer training courses with international certificates to students.

The company has also worked with schools in these cities to implement STEM education in line with the Vietnamese curricula on maths and computers.

Students taking part in STEM education courses have attended many international robothon contests and International Digital Campus WeCode competitions.

Six apartments gutted on Hanoi street

A major fire which occurred early morning today at House No. 5 on Nguyen Khac Can Street, Hoan Kiem District, Ha Noi, spread to the neighbourhood and destroyed six apartments.

The fire broke out at 12:20am on the second floor of an old house. It then spread inwards and reached house number 11 on nearby Hai Ba Trung Street.

It is reported that the area was full of residents when the fire erupted.

The fire prevention force rushed eight fire trucks and other facilities to the fire scene. The narrow path that led to the building made it difficult for the fire-fighters to reach, but the fire was extinguished two hours later.

The incident caused no deaths but burned down six apartments and destroyed the rooftop and the second floor of the complex. High temperatures also ruined the iron doors of many apartments.

Twenty-two people from the six apartments are now staying at the Centre for Technical Education in House No. 4 under the Hanoi Department of Education and Training.

The scene of the fire has been barricaded for further investigation.

Residential bars, karaoke clubs disturb the peace

Ha Noi residents living in apartment blocks or residential buildings have increasingly voiced complaints against karaoke bars for disturbing their lives.

Since the passage of the 2014 guiding decree of the amended housing law, which allows karaoke bars and clubs in residential buildings, the number of karaoke bars and clubs have mushroomed, according to a construction ministry official.

For Nguyen Thi Hoa, a resident in 165 Thai Ha residential building, she was surprised by what she saw when she visited the beer club in her building. The club turned on DJ music and female dancers in sexy dresses danced around customers just like in a night club, she told Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper.

She also voiced concerns about the safety of the club, "Customers have to use elevators since it's located on floor M of the building. It only has one exit so I think it would be difficult to evacuate customers in case of a fire."

Thanh Dung, another resident of the building, said that sometimes the parking lot was so full she had to find somewhere outside the building to store her motorbike.

"The beer club gets too many customers in the evening and they all park their vehicles in the building parking lot," she said.

At a different luxury apartment block on Nui Truc Street, an active beer club hosts many big events just like a night club, explained customer Nguyen Van Nam.

"It hosted a Sexy Fashion Show with the participation of many famous domestic and foreign models," he said.

Many residents in apartment block voiced their worries over safety since, like the other beer club, it also has only one exit. They complained that the club negatively effected their lives.

Building resident Cong Minh said that last week when he left at midnight to catch a train to his hometown, he saw a group of youngsters in sexy clothes squabbling in front of the building.

"When I saw them, it seemed that they were going to use fists to solve their disagreement. I felt disappointed and worried about my children's development. If they see situations like that regularly, it might spoil them," Minh said.

Nguyen Tri Dung, deputy director of Ha Noi's construction department, said that bars and clubs in residential buildings could negatively effect residents' lives and safety.

While the 2014 guiding circular does allow karaoke bars and beer clubs, they are confined to service floors usually situated in the basement and separated from residents' apartments, and must meet safety regulations to be licensed.

For Hoa on Thai Ha street or Minh on Nui Truc, the beer clubs have not followed regulations.

Deputy director of Ha Noi's Fire Prevention Department, Nguyen Van Son, said there had been no recorded fire incidents in karaoke bars or clubs in residential buildings in Ha Noi.

"Fire cases have occurred only in bars and clubs located in a separate building, not ones in residential buildings or apartment blocks," he said.

If the disgruntled residents are hopping to ban karaoke or beer bars from their building, they will face resistance.

Experts urge citizens, media to break the corruption chain

International anti-corruption experts yesterday shared their experience with Vietnamese partners while gathering at a dialogue in Ha Noi to discuss the enforcement of the anti-corruption law.

It was appropriate that this dialogue took place on the anniversary of International Anti-Corruption Day, which was marked globally yesterday.

This official UN-observed day called for stronger measures to curb corruption and uses the tag line "Break the Corruption Chain".

At the dialogue, international experience was presented suggesting that strict codes of conduct might be in place as a key priority.

"The anti-corruption law needs to contain effective mechanisms for prevention, detection and reporting of corruption, including incentives for officials, citizens and businesses to report corrupt behaviour," said Bakhodir Burkhanov, Deputy Country Director, UNDP Viet Nam

The UNDP official said protecting the media's rights to breaking and covering corruption stories was equally important and engaging communities was especially key to breaking the corruption chain.

"Anti-corruption is everyone's concern and can no longer be seen as a monopoly of the Government. Citizens and businesses have a part to play in fostering a culture of integrity, transparency and accountability," he said.

Taking the policy discussion forwards, UNDP hosted a thematic discussion on how anti-corruption and governance-informed development could help create a more equitable society in Viet Nam through the evidence-based approach to policy research.

Jairo Acuna-Alfaro, Policy Advisor, UNDP New York represented two rigorous and pioneering policy papers at the dialogue saying that they had found interesting and useful evidence to advance the intention to substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all its forms.

The UNDP expert said the first paper entitled ‘Local governance, corruption, and public service quality: Evidence from a national survey in Viet Nam' asks how corruption affects quality of healthcare and primary education. And how transparency, accountability, and citizen participation helps reduce corruption. The research results reject the idea that, in the absence of efficient institutions and administrative systems, corruption may facilitate development.

Kaohsiung and Pingtung, two Taiwanese cities, held a conference in HCM City yesterday to promote tourism.

Hsu Chuan-sheng, the head of the Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau highlighted the four strengths of the south-western city - shopping, "seeking blessings [from the Buddha]", food, and beach.

Around 300,000 Vietnamese live in Taiwan, and hundreds of students study there.

There are 10 flights to HCM City from Kaohsiung every week, and seven to Ha Noi.

"The distance from Kaohsiung to HCM City and Ha Noi is even closer than between HCM City and Ha Noi," Hsu added.

He said his agency would soon work with VietJet to start direct flights to Kaohsiung next year.

Pingtung, the southernmost city in Taiwan, is blessed with lovely weather year round, making it a perfect choice for a beach vacation.

Nguyen Thi Khanh, deputy chairwoman of the HCM City Tourism Association, said the number of Vietnamese travelling abroad this year had topped 5 million.

The number of Vietnamese travellers to Taiwan has increased this year, she said.

Radio channel on health to be broadcast to southeastern region

Ha Noi Radio Television yesterday began broadcasting a radio channel specialising in health in the southeastern region on the 101.7 MHz frequency.

The JoyFM channel was established in 2012. It broadcasts news and counselling programmes related to health and food safety in the midlands and northern delta region. In July, the channel signed an agreement on expanding coverage to the southeastern region.

Vietnam city deports 64 Chinese working on tourist visas

Authorities in Danang have expelled 64 illegal workers back to China, the first action taken in a bid to tighten control over the mass migration of Chinese nationals to a coastal district in the central Vietnamese city.

The deported Chinese had entered Danang on tourist visas and stayed to work without a permit, according to the immigration office under the Danang police department.

The police department has also recommended that the municipal administration levy a VND15 million (US$670) fine on each of the unlicensed workers.

These Chinese were brought to Danang on tourist visas to work at the construction site of the five-star JW Marriott Hotel project, according to the immigration office.

The project is contracted by China’s Sichuan Hua Shi Co. Ltd., and developed by Silver Shores Co. Ltd., which has a Chinese director.

Last month the contractor won approval to bring an additional 300 Chinese laborers to the project, raising concern among local experts and members of the public.

A number of Chinese nationals have recently flocked to Ngu Hanh Son, a coastal district that fronts the East Vietnam Sea.

Chinese visitors have accounted for 65,000 out of 129,000 international arrivals to Ngu Hanh Son in the year to date, with Silver Shores operating charter flights bringing passengers from some Chinese localities to the Vietnamese city on a weekly basis.

Such a mass entry has prompted the local administration to “strengthen control over residential issues,” Dao Tan Bang, secretary of the district’s Party Committee, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Sunday.

The deportation of the 64 illegal Chinese workers is therefore seen as the first action of local authorities in their bid to tighten immigration control.

The rising number of Chinese visitors has in fact caused myriad problems for Ngu Hanh Son District, Bang admitted.

As of the end of November, the district’s administration had handled 11 cases in which foreigners violated the rules on security and social order, highlighted by a US$20,000 Chinese-related fraud, according to the official.

Authorities have also discovered that 71 local residents had bought a total of 137 plots of land in the area on behalf of Chinese nationals, as Vietnam currently does not permit foreigners to make land use transfer transactions.

With foreigners only allowed to own apartments or houses for 50 years with a one-off term renewal, paying locals to do the job for them has emerged as a common trick to bypass such regulations.

KOICA asked to help Binh Dinh remove wartime bombs

Leaders of the central province of Binh Dinh and a delegation from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) had a working session on December 9 to discuss unexploded ordnance (UXO) in the locality.

Ngo Dong Hai, deputy chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said he hoped the Republic of Korea ’s government, via KOICA, will help the province deal with the bombs and mines left from the war.

KOICA will conduct a four-month survey of post-war UXOs in Binh Dinh, said Chang Jae Yun, country director of KOICA in Vietnam, adding that the agency will determine how to assist the province after studying the survey.

Binh Dinh is littered with UXOs, and around 40% of the land there is thought to be contaminated.

Since the end of the war in 1975, a total of 627 accidents caused by wartime bombs and mines have been recorded in the province, leaving 1,045 dead and 3,049 wounded.

Policies needed to tackle labor force decline

East Asia is aging faster than any other region in history, and some middle-income and wealthier economies could lose as much as 15% of their working-age population by 2040, according to a new World Bank (WB) report.

The report, Live Long and Prosper: Aging in East Asia and Pacific, finds that 36% of the world’s population ages 65 and over, or 211 million people, live in East Asia, the largest share among all regions. By 2040, the graying of the population could shrink the number of working-age adults by more than 15% in the Republic of Korea and more than 10% in China, Thailand and Japan. In China alone, that would translate into a net loss of 90 million workers.

The rapid pace and sheer scale of aging in East Asia raises policy challenges, economic and fiscal pressures, and social risks. Without reforms, for example, pension spending in the region is projected to increase by 8-10% of gross domestic product by 2070.

Meanwhile, most East Asian health systems aren’t prepared for age-related spending, as cancer, heart disease, diabetes and other chronic illnesses could account for 85 percent of all disease burdens by 2030. In addition, today’s older population is less likely than previous generations to have adequate family support.

“East Asia Pacific has undergone the most dramatic demographic transition we have ever seen, and all developing countries in the region risk getting old before getting rich,” saidAxel van Trotsenburg, regional vice president of the World Bank’s East Asia and Pacific Region.

 “Managing rapid aging is not just about old people, but requires a comprehensive policy approach across the life cycle to enhance labor-force participation and encourage healthy lifestyles through structural reforms in childcare, education, healthcare, pensions, long-term care, and more.”

The report examines how aging may affect the drivers of economic growth in the region, as well as patterns of public spending. It reviews current policies and provides recommendations on how countries with diverse demographics can address challenges in the labor market, social security systems, and health and long-term care. It also looks at how older people currently live, work and retire across the region.

Rapid aging in East Asia is partly a result of the region’s breakneck pace of economic development in recent decades, the report says. Higher incomes and better education have led to steady increases in life expectancy, and have been accompanied by sharp declines in fertility rates, with a growing number of countries now well below replacement levels.

As a result, by 2060, one in five of the oldest countries in the world will be in East Asia, compared with just one in 25 in 2010.

The pace of aging varies across countries. Richer countries, such as Japan, Singapore and the RoK, are “advanced agers,” with 14% or more of their population already at least 65 years old. In younger and poorer countries, including Cambodia, Laos and Papua New Guinea, only 4% of their population is older than 65, but they will begin to age rapidly in 20 to 30 years. Developing middle-income countries, such as China, Thailand and Vietnam, are already aging quickly and face some of the most pressing challenges in managing aging.

“It is possible to manage aging while sustaining economic dynamism in East Asia Pacific, but it requires tough policy decisions and significant behavioral change on the part of workers, employers and society in general,” said Sudhir Shetty, chief economist for the East Asia and Pacific Region of the World Bank. “The region’s demographic and epidemiological transitions require proactive policy responses on pensions, health care and labor markets.”

East Asia has several advantages in addressing aging. East Asians already work longer than their counterparts in other regions. They have high savings rates across all ages, rapidly rising education achievements, and social security systems with fewer costly legacy entitlements.

“Demography is a powerful force in development, but it is not destiny,” said Philip O’Keefe, lead author of the report. “Through their policy choices, governments can help societies adapt to rapid aging and promote healthy and productive aging.”

The report recommends a range of pressing reforms:

In the labor market, countries as diverse as Japan, Malaysia and Fiji can encourage more women to join the labor force, especially through childcare reforms. Meanwhile, countries like China, Vietnam and Thailand can remove incentives in pension systems that have encouraged some workers, especially urban women, to retire too early. More advanced economies such as Korea and Japan would also benefit from opening up their aging labor markets to attract young immigrants.

Countries at all income levels will also need to keep improving the quality of their workforces by strengthening education and lifelong learning.

The report recommends that developing countries in East Asia take steps toreform their existing pension schemes, including considering gradual increases in retirement age. Such changes would also make it possible to expand currently low pension coverage to include those working in the informal economy.

For countries with relatively young populations, the report suggests that governments take future rapid aging into account and put in place sustainable pension systems.

To meet the higher demands on health and long-term care systems in a financially sustainable way, the report recommends that health systems shift their focus from hospital-centric care to primary care and promote more efficient management of patients with multiple chronic conditions.

This structural shift will require changes in pharmaceutical and technology procurement and how health providers are paid. It also will require a new health workforce that can provide good-quality primary care. The challenge in long-term care, the report says, is to develop affordable models that combine family support with community- and home-based approaches.

Vietnam on way to complete MDGs, better ensure basic human rights

Vietnam’s performance towards the Millennial Development Goals (MDGs), particularly those regarding poverty reduction, gender equality and education, over the past years has won international recognition.

The MDGs were defined by the United Nations as tools to better ensure the basic human rights in the fields of economics, culture, society, civil rights and politics. It can be said that those goals further specify the basic human rights as stipulated in universal documents adopted by the UN, including the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Cultural and Social Rights, the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discriminations against Women.

Vietnam reached the goal of eradicating extreme poverty and starvation in 2002, ahead of schedule, and reduced the country’s poverty rate from 58.1 percent in 1993 to 6 percent in 2014.

The country also completed the universalisation of primary education in 2010, and is working towards universalising secondary education.

The targets on gender equality and improved women’s position have been basically fulfilled, malaria and some dangerous diseases have been put under control and the spread of HIV has been curbed.

The goal on reducing children mortality rate is now within reach as the rate among under-one children dropped from 44 per thousand in 1990 to 15 per thousand in 2014, just 0.2 per thousand short of target. The mortality rate among under-five reduced by more than half over the past two decades to 22.9 per thousand in 2014.

Vietnam has remained focused on environmental protection over the past 20 years, and the State budget allocation for the issue has increased remarkably, not less than 1 percent of the government’s total expenditure.

Irish Ambassador to Vietnam Cait Moran recently welcomed the announcement of Vietnam’s framework plan of action for ethnic minority groups in a bid to achieve the MDGs and two national target programmes on sustainable poverty alleviation and new rural development.

Those schemes will provide important supplementary resources to boost socio-economic development in disadvantaged rural areas, he said.

Pratibha Mehta, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam, said Vietnam’s achievements can be attributed to the entire country’s concerted efforts to completing the MDGs.

She said the UN is ready to help Vietnam implement its sustainable development goals.

Since joining the World Trade Organisation, Vietnam has established trade ties with nearly 230 countries and territories and has investment ties with 84 countries and territories. The country has signed more than 90 bilateral trade agreements.

Vietnam is also an active member of more than 70 regional and international organisations, and has attracted a vast amount of official development assistance (ODA) capital and foreign direct investment, which play an important role in socio-economic development.

Vietnam on way to complete MDGs, better ensure basic human rights

Vietnam’s performance towards the Millennial Development Goals (MDGs), particularly those regarding poverty reduction, gender equality and education, over the past years has won international recognition.

The MDGs were defined by the United Nations as tools to better ensure the basic human rights in the fields of economics, culture, society, civil rights and politics. It can be said that those goals further specify the basic human rights as stipulated in universal documents adopted by the UN, including the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Cultural and Social Rights, the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discriminations against Women.

Vietnam reached the goal of eradicating extreme poverty and starvation in 2002, ahead of schedule, and reduced the country’s poverty rate from 58.1 percent in 1993 to 6 percent in 2014.

The country also completed the universalisation of primary education in 2010, and is working towards universalising secondary education.

The targets on gender equality and improved women’s position have been basically fulfilled, malaria and some dangerous diseases have been put under control and the spread of HIV has been curbed.

The goal on reducing children mortality rate is now within reach as the rate among under-one children dropped from 44 per thousand in 1990 to 15 per thousand in 2014, just 0.2 per thousand short of target. The mortality rate among under-five reduced by more than half over the past two decades to 22.9 per thousand in 2014.

Vietnam has remained focused on environmental protection over the past 20 years, and the State budget allocation for the issue has increased remarkably, not less than 1 percent of the government’s total expenditure.

Irish Ambassador to Vietnam Cait Moran recently welcomed the announcement of Vietnam’s framework plan of action for ethnic minority groups in a bid to achieve the MDGs and two national target programmes on sustainable poverty alleviation and new rural development.

Those schemes will provide important supplementary resources to boost socio-economic development in disadvantaged rural areas, he said.

Pratibha Mehta, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam, said Vietnam’s achievements can be attributed to the entire country’s concerted efforts to completing the MDGs.

She said the UN is ready to help Vietnam implement its sustainable development goals.

Since joining the World Trade Organisation, Vietnam has established trade ties with nearly 230 countries and territories and has investment ties with 84 countries and territories. The country has signed more than 90 bilateral trade agreements.

Vietnam is also an active member of more than 70 regional and international organisations, and has attracted a vast amount of official development assistance (ODA) capital and foreign direct investment, which play an important role in socio-economic development.

Around 15% of the Vietnamese population, or 13.5 million people, are battling common forms of mental illness, of which three million experience severe psychiatric disorders.

These figures were announced by Tran Quy Tuong, vice director of the Agency of Medical Service Administration under the Ministry of Health, at a consultative workshop on national strategy on mental health organized recently by the Ministry of Health in Hanoi.

The causes of such mental disorders range from genetics, poor personal health, and poverty to unemployment, illiteracy, divorce, and any form of violence.

Ten common mental diseases that Vietnamese are likely to develop are schizophrenia, depression, epilepsy, anxiety disorders, dementia, disorders caused by traumatic brain injury, mental retardation, behavioral disorders, and other mental illnesses brought about by alcohol and drugs, the Vietnam News Agency quoted Dr. Lai Duc Truong from the World Health Organization’s representative office in Vietnam, as saying at the workshop.

However, most people are still not fully aware of the situation as they only associate mental illness with schizophrenia and insanity, whose characteristics are rather evident, while ignoring the rest, Dr. Truong said.

Symptoms that indicate mental illness are very diverse, including sleeping disorders, neurasthenia, pessimism, lack of confidence and others, news website Dan Tri cited Director of National Psychiatric Hospital No. 1 La Duc Cuong as saying.

Therefore many patients suffering those ailments are not aware of their own problems or do not want their symptoms to be diagnosed, Dr. Truong added, elaborating that only three out of 10 such patients in Vietnam have their mental illness treated.

The fight against psychiatric disorders in Vietnam still faces several challenges due to many reasons, especially a lack of qualified personnel, the Vietnam News Agency reported, citing Dr. Truong.

While the number of patients has already exceeded ten million, there are only about 1,000 doctors specializing in psychiatry, who mainly work at hospitals in big cities, the doctor said.

The current inappropriate payment mechanism applied to mental health care and the absence of incentive policies for doctors have also exacerbated the problem, Dr. Truong explained.

The Vietnamese government should consider promulgating laws and making national policies on mental health to improve health care services and raise people’s awareness, Professor Harry Minas, a mental health expert from Melbourne University in Australia, was quoted by the Vietnam News Agency as saying at the workshop.

The Ministry of Health has submitted a plan on national strategy on mental health for the 2016-25 period to the prime minister.

Mental health care services will be offered comprehensively and included in the treatment options at general hospitals throughout Vietnam, especially those at the district level, according to the plan.

Urgent need for law to control water pollution

Formulating a specific law to control water pollution in the country's legislative work programme is a necessary task of State agencies and scientists to ensure national sustainable development.

A consensus on this was reached by participants at a workshop on roles of the Viet Nam Union of Science and Technology Association (VUSTA) and social organisations in setting up a water pollution control law, held in Ha Noi today.

Water pollution can be seen at almost the big and small rivers in Viet Nam, Nguyen Ngoc Ly, director of the Centre for Environmental and Community Research (CECR) said. However, the current Laws on Environmental Protection and Water Resources, which govern this issue, have not yet proved effective in controlling water contamination.

The participants also agreed with the vital roles of environment coalitions and social organisations in setting specific regulations of a proposed law on water pollution management.

The law on promulgation of legal documents, passed in June this year, regulates that during the formulation and promulgation of legal documents, the receipt of and response to public comments and proposals must ensure openness and democracy. This has encouraged the involvement of citizens and social organisations in building a legal framework, enhancing their accountability, feasibility and improving the quality of legal documents.

During the workshop, Nghiem Vu Khai, VUSTA vice president, pledged the commitment of VUSTA and its member organisations to continue to lobby for the law and conduct research on environment impacts as well as prepare proposals for the law.

"To build an effective law, we must set standards on the level of water pollution. In addition, it is important to build an environmental monitoring system and put forward solutions to ensure criteria on clean water. The basic solutions include clarifying the rights and responsibilities of individuals and organisations, and to apply eco-friendly technology," Khai said.

Formulating the law needs a long time, and a scientific and legal foundation, Nguyen Ngoc Ly said, and added that the support and involvement of the State, ministries, sectors, enterprises and localities also play a key role.

According to her, the establishment of a law on water pollution control will support the Laws on Environmental Protection and Water Resources. While the Law on Environmental Protection plays a role as a general legal framework, the Law on Water Resources involves effective use of water resources. The law on water pollution control is expected to focus on measures to manage water pollution on the shores to prevent contaminated water from running into lakes and rivers, she said.

Ly said that the draft proposals of the law on water pollution control are scheduled to be completed by the end of next year.

Search goes on for fallen soldier remains

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam urged authorities at all levels, ministries and sectors to push forward with the search for and collection of fallen soldier remains with the goal of finding around 3,000 sets of remains each year from now to 2020.

He made the call during a teleconference held by the Steering Committee on the Search and Repatriation of Remains of Fallen Soldiers (known as Committee 1237) on December 7 in Hanoi.

The Deputy PM, who is also the Head of the Committee 1237, hailed the joint efforts made by relevant bodies over the past years to carry out the task, which demonstrate the nation’s gratitude to the war martyrs.

Dam also praised the active contributions the mass media communication and international cooperation have made to the search of martyrs’ remains nationwide.

In the 2016-2020 period, stakeholders need to accelerate the making of lists of fallen soldiers and identify key areas for searching, he said, adding that information and communication technology (ICT) should be used in the work and relevant legal framework should be updated to suit the current situation.

Many participants highlighted the difficulties facing the implementation of the project over the past years, such as lack of information, the workload remains huge, and weak management.

They called for financial and technical support for the staff involving in the work.

According to reports made by the Committee 1237, as many as 1,108 sets of soldiers’ remains were gathered both at home and abroad in 2014, of which 329 sets were collected in Laos and 945 sets were brought home from Cambodia.

Since 2013, 7,997 sets of remains of fallen soldiers have been found and reburied, with 1,347 sets repatriated from Laos, and 2,578 sets from Cambodia.

For the period until 2020, the country will strive to build a database on fallen soldiers and their graves, and basically complete the repatriation of remains of Vietnamese soldiers and experts from Cambodia and Laos.

VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri