Sunk clinker-carrying vessel towed away

Waterway traffic on Cam River to Hai Phong Port was stalled because of the sunk clinker-carrying vessel on Saturday. — Photo atgt.vn

Rescuers yesterday morning towed away a clinker-carrying vessel that sank in Cam River, northern Hai Phong Province on Saturday night after colliding with an oil-laden vessel.

According to Hai Phong Port Authority, the vessel NB 2159, carrying more than 900 tonnes of cement clinker from northern Hai Duong province to Quang Ninh Province, collided with the oil-laden vessel of SENCO Marine Services and Trade Ltd Company at 11.30pm on Saturday. The crew on the boat was rescued soon after.

The oil-laden vessel was also badly damaged.

The collision halted waterway traffic at Binh Ferry Station on Cam River for hours.

Police is investigating the case.

Workshop in Poland highlights Vietnam’s development

A workshop highlighting Vietnam’s Doi Moi (renewal), development and integration was held in the Polish capital of Warsaw on November 27 as part of activities to mark the 65th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

The participants discussed the socio-economic performance of Vietnam and the country’s status now 30 years after the launch of Doi Moi. They examined the prospects for Vietnam’s development following the conclusion of negotiations on the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement as well as the establishment of the ASEAN Community at the end of 2015.

The ties between Vietnam and Poland in the context of complicated developments in the region and the world, including the tensions in the East Sea, also attracted participants’ attention, as did the deeper integration of the Vietnamese community in Poland in recent years.

Former Vice Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee under Polish lower house Tadeusz Iwinski expressed his hope that Vietnam and Poland will serve as a bridge to forge cooperation between ASEAN and the EU as part of the Asia-Europe overall relations.

Damian Wnukowski, an expert from the Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM), highlighted Vietnam’s engagement in regional and international agreements as an important premise for the country to continue luring big investors.

Meanwhile, Piotr Gadzinowski from the Polish Democratic Left Alliance put forth measures to drive the Vietnam-Poland relations forward in the coming time, focusing on cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

A celebration of the fifth founding anniversary of the Vietnam Institute of Science and Culture in Poland was also held on the sidelines of the workshop.

Ethnic minorities cope with climate change

Vietnam is home to 53 ethnic minority groups with a population of nearly 14 million, who mainly live in remote mountainous, midland and coastal areas that are vulnerable to natural disasters.

Vietnam is one of the five countries most affected by climate change – especially rising sea levels. Each year, the country is hit by between five to seven storms and floods, which seriously impact 50 percent of land and 70 percent of the population.

Ethnic minority groups in particular have become more aware of climate change, which has increased the frequency and severity of droughts, floods and landslides in recent years.

Landslides triggered by heavy rains in the northern mountainous provinces of Son La, Lao Cai and Yen Bai, as well as the Central Highlands, have spoilt farmland. Prolonged drought in the central province of Ninh Thuan has brought about water shortages.

In the Central Highlands, water reservoirs, rivers and streams as well as underground water resource are running out of water. The area of primeval forest has also shrunk, causing a loss of biodiversity.

Ethnic minorities have been proactively mitigating the impacts of environmental changes, but it has been difficult to sustain the outcomes of their efforts.

To that end, it is necessary for the State to spread relevant information in ethnic minority languages and consult indigenous people when planning to build infrastructure such as hydropower plants and transport systems in their areas.

Financial resources are needed to address the consequences of natural disasters in ethnic minority-inhabited areas.

The State should design policies to stabilise local livelihoods and reduce the number of nomadic farmers.

Enhancing the resilience capacity of ethnic minorities is essential for coping with climate change and and creating sustainable production. Forest protection is considered an effective solution.

It is crucial to raise ethnic groups’ awareness of State policies and regulations on forest and biodiversity protection, climate change and sustainable forest management.

The State needs to prevent indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources such as gold, sand, wood and ore; encourage households to increase investment in animal husbandry; support the protection of natural forest areas; and rehabilitate degraded land.

Relocating households in flood- and landslide-prone areas to safer places and creating more occupational opportunities to increase local incomes are strongly suggested.

Patients receive free COPD checks and medicine

Doctors from Bach Mai General Hospital last weekend provided free checks, consultancy and medicine to more than 500 people at high risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD).

The humanitarian gesture was part of the hospital's COPD and asthma prevention project's activities to celebrate World COPD Day (November 18).

Observed with the theme "It's Not Too Late," World COPD Day 2015 aimed to raise the community's awareness and improve COPD care throughout the world.

A study in Viet Nam in 2009 showed that 4.2 per cent of the people suffered from the disease. More than seven per cent of men suffered from COPD, compared to 1.9 per cent women.

Doctors said middle-aged smokers, people having contact with smoke, dust and job-related chemicals or those with symptoms such as cough, chest discomfort and shortness of breath should consult doctors for breath test and treatment.

Since 2011, the COPD and asthma prevention project has provided health checks during more than 122,000 patient visits, and has detected COPD and asthma in more than 85,000 patients.

Health experts said COPD was the sixth most common disease in the world, and ranked fourth in the list of those with a high mortality rate, including coronary thrombosis, cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

Visa issues five million cards after 20 years in Vietnam

Twenty years after coming to Vietnam, Visa has announced it has crossed the five million card mark in the country.

"Vietnam is one of the fastest growing markets for Visa across the globe. We've made some fantastic progress in growing electronic payments here in the past 20 years, but there's still a lot of work to be done," said Sean Preston, the company's country manager for Vietnam.

This year the company achieved strong growth in Vietnam despite a downturn in global economic conditions, with the total payment volume through Visa cards growing by 44 percent.

Preston said his company would continue to expand in Vietnam in the coming years and introduce many new products.

It will include a new card called Visa payWave in 2016, which is a contactless payment technology – a scanner is used — that is quicker and more convenient.-

Fire destroys four stores in Kon Tum

Leakage of electrical charge was blamed for the fire that destroyed four stores in Plei Kan Town, in the Central Highland Kon Tum Province's Ngoc Hoi District late on Saturday.

Firefighters took almost three hours to extinguish the blaze.

Chairman of the district People's Committee Tran Van Chi said 10 people were reportedly present in the stores when the fire broke out. All of them escaped in time.

However, the fire caused losses worth several billion Vietnamese dong, as the shops comprised furniture stores and the largest grocery in the district.

Vietnam suffers severe weather conditions for longest El Nino spell

Vietnam has suffered harsh weather conditions this year as the consequences of the longest El Nino spell in history, according to the National Hydrometeorology Center.

The harshness of weather in the nation has manifested in symptoms such as higher temperature, low water level in rivers, the rise in sea water temperature, and the deeper intrusion of salt water into farms and rice fields.

Le Thanh Hai, deputy general director of the center, said Vietnam had 14 spells of hot weather covering large areas in the nation, with some places being scorched under the temperature of 42 degrees Celsius.

The highest water level during the peak of flood season in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam measured at Tan Chau District and Chau Doc Town was 2.55m and 2.35m respectively – the lowest level in the last 90 years since 1926.

The intrusion of sea water into rice fields and farms in the south has occurred as early as in January this year.

The level of salinity has been higher than the average rate of previous years.

According to the National Hydrometeorology Center, the temperature in Vietnam from November this year to April in 2016 is predicted to be higher than the average level of previous years from 0.5 to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Winter months in northern Vietnam, from December this year to February next year, will also have higher temperature.

Generally, the coming winter will be warmer with less cold days in the north.

Hai revealed that indicators collected by international meteorological agencies show that this year’s El Nino reaches a record of harshness in the last 60 years, in both the longest time and the widest coverage of effect.

Love at the Warming House

Nguyen Quoc Phong founded the Warming House, a school for children in Tan Phu District, Ho Chi Minh City, in 1999. The house has become a haven for visually impaired people in disadvantaged circumstances.

Nguyen Quoc Phong lost his eyesight in an accident in 1991. Phong, who was 30 years old at that time, became desperate. He tried to register for a Braille course but was refused because he was too old. So Phong decided to teach himself Braille.

In 1998 he returned to Vietnam after studying in France on a scholarship and learning to print Braille books and make canes for blind people.

That year, he founded the Warming House to give visually impaired children an opportunity to change their lives.

With limited money available at first, there were only a few children in the house. Now the warming House has 30 visually impaired children from across Vietnam. The school teaches them to read and gives them skills to live independently. They can learn the trades of Braille printing and making canes for the blind.

Five years ago, when Nguyen Minh Hai first came to the school, like other blind children, he felt hopeless and just wanted to let things run their course.

Thanks to encouragement from teacher Phong and his schoolmates, Hai has almost completed his secondary education. He is becoming proficient in computers, massage, acupressure, and printing.

Hai said, “Teacher Phong is like my father. Sometimes he makes jokes to help us unwind after studying. Teacher Phong has changed my way of thinking and my life.”

The Warming House has been a firm support for a little blind girl named Vong Minh Nhi over the past 4 years.

Nhi shared, “I’ve formed a lot of happiness at the school. I learn and receive protection, assistance, care, and love from others in the same situation. In addition to learning to read, I’ve learned computers, English, music, and skills for rehabilitation.”

To keep the school operating, Phong makes Braille books and solicits financial support from various sources.

He noted, “You can’t let visual impairment rob you of your opportunities. We must do our best to be treated equally and be productive. I never tell myself that I can’t do this work, only how to make it and find ways to realize it. I will never let difficulties hold me back.”

Nguyen Thi Kieu Oanh, one of the first visually impaired students to graduate, came back as a teacher, following in the footsteps of Mr. Phong who is considered a great teacher and father.

A graduate of the English faculty of the Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Oanh is in charge of primary education and teaching English to the younger kids at the Warming House.

Oanh shared, “First it’s a job I like. Second it’s the place I lived with my friends and teachers who helped me become the person I am. I wanted to come back here to apply what I’ve learned and continue the work my teachers have done.”

Hospitals reducing inappropriate antibiotic usage

Hospital infection control activities have helped reduce inappropriate antibiotic use, which has improved quality of health care and reduced the need for medical treatment, according to Assoc. Prof Le Thi Anh Thu, president of HCM City Infection Control Society.

Speaking at a conference held in HCM City last week, Thu said that antibiotic overuse by doctors had occurred because of the lack of infection control in the environment, instrument reprocessing and patient care.

Applying best practices in infection control encourages doctor not to use antibiotics unnecessarily, including the use of antibiotics in cleaning wounds, Thu said.

Ha Kim Phuong, specialist at the Ministry of Health's Medical Examination and Treatment Department, said that the circular on hospital infection prevention and control in health facilities was issued five years ago.

As of last year, 13.3 per cent of hospitals in the country had not set up a faculty in charge of the issue. More than 41 per cent of the country's total hospitals have no sterilizing units, according to Phuong.

More than 92 per cent have also not conducted surveys on hospital-acquired infection since 2010. Ninety-three per cent have not monitored drug-resistant bacteria, either.

Dr Le Quoc Su, CEO of Hoan My Medical Corporation, said that hospital-acquired infection risks and infection-control programmes vary from hospital to hospital, depending on clinical services and activities, targeted patients, geographic location, and the number of patients and healthcare professionals.

For private hospitals, hospital infection-prevention and control must be considered a key competitive advantage because its targeted patients mostly are higher-income, have higher education, and are willing to pay more for better quality of care, according to Su.

Hospital-acquired infections have led to longer lengths of stays in hospitals and increased healthcare costs, leading to serious complications that could damage hospitals' reputation.

Moreover, with the promotion of service packages at private hospitals, if hospital-acquired infection unexpectedly happened, the profits would fall as a result of the increased input costs of service, he added.

Support of leaders and management was crucial since investment must be made in facilities and equipment, training and manpower, he said.

IT engineer Nguyen The Anh said that surveillance at hospitals was a routine activity for infection control. It includes data collection, entry, storage and lookup.

Feedback about surveillance results should be given soon to medical staff, infection control departments and hospital boards of directors so they can react quickly.

Surveillance, however, can be difficult because of the shortage of human resources, according to Anh. Time is needed for data entry and data processing and weaknesses include typing mistakes, reporting and lack of statistical knowledge.

These drawbacks can lead to too much workload for infection-control staff and to insufficient monitoring results.

However, IT applications would help solve these difficulties, he said. Infection control staff would use tablets instead of inputting data from paper to computer. Data would then be transferred directly from the tablet to the reporting system so that the infection control staff and the hospital boards of directors can immediately see the results on system monitoring reports.

Vietnam attends int’l communist parties’ event in India

A Vietnamese delegation led by Deputy Head of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for External Affairs Tran Dac Loi joined delegates from many communist parties in Asia at an international workshop in New Delhi from November 28 to 29.

The event, organised by the Communist Party of India (CPI) to mark its 90th founding anniversary, aimed to foster the cooperation among communist parties and working class in Asia to address arising challenges posed by global capitalism.

The participants pointed to the impacts of the domination of global capitalism on politics and socio-economic development worldwide, emphasising that the Asian region has been affected the most.

They shared views on the need for the region to develop socialist measures to address the crisis while strengthening the connections among communist parties and working class across the world.

For his part, the Vietnamese delegation head shared experiences in building Vietnamese socialism, especially the implementation of the socialist-oriented market economy, poverty reduction, hunger eradication, and the promotion of progress and social justice.

Previously, the delegation had working meetings with leaders of the host country’s Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and several parties in a bid to foster the bilateral relations between Vietnam and India, as well as between the CPV and India’s ruling Parties.

Vietnam and India generated more than US$5.6 billion from bilateral trade last year, a significant increase from US$1 billion in 2006. In the first seven months of 2015, the figure reached over US$3 billion, paving the way for a target of US$15 billion by 2020.

Ceremony marks Vietnam-Romania diplomatic ties anniversary

The Vietnam-Romania Friendship Association and the Romanian Embassy in Vietnam held a ceremony in Hanoi on November 29 to mark Romania’s 97th Great Union Day and the 65th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties.

The association’s President Tong Van Nga extended his congratulations to Romania for its growth and thanked the country’s Government and people for supporting Vietnam during its struggle for national liberation and reunification.

Romania used to be one of the countries providing the most scholarships for Vietnamese students, who then contributed to Vietnam’s national reconstruction process.

The friendship association, made up mostly of Vietnamese people who studied in Romania, is seeking more opportunities to tighten the ties between the two countries.

Valeriu Arteni, Chargé d’Affaires at the Romanian Embassy, said that Vietnam is currently Romania’s leading trade partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), with two-way trade enjoying significant growth in recent years.

He spoke highly of the role of the Vietnam-Romania Friendship Association in contributing to enhancing bilateral cooperation in economics, trade, culture, education and tourism. It has also promoted the image and culture of Romania in Vietnam and vice versa.

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