Center for knowledge exchange to go up in town

The HCMC General Sciences Library and Samsung Vina Electronics Co. Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to turn part of the library into a center for knowledge exchange among young people.

The project, which is expected to be opened in October, will include a 500-square-meter area to meet the demand for self-study and study in groups, an audiovisual room which can seat 20-40 people and is equipped with advanced devices for conferences, study and research.

The forthcoming center would hold activities such as exhibition, workshop, and skill training course to help young people connect, exchange and learn from each other to improve themselves and contribute to developing the community.

Samsung Vina has not revealed the cost of its first such project.

At the signing ceremony of the MOU, some people expressed concern that the project may affect the architecture of the HCMC General Sciences Library.

However, representatives of the library and Samsung Vina said the project would not impact on the architecture of the library as the project would develop an area inside the library.

“We would like to create a modern area for knowledge exchange and hold activities which are suitable with young people,” said director of the library Bui Xuan Duc.

Most workers struggle with cost of living

Most workers in Vietnam earn an income that falls short of covering the cost of living, the General Confederation of Labor found from research in ten cities and provinces - Hanoi, Nam Dinh, Vinh Phuc, Hai Duong, Thua Thien Hue, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho, and Ben Tre - surveying 1,600 respondents.

The majority of enterprises raise the minimum salary when policies call for it, but 39.7 per cent of workers and 50.35 per cent of respondents said that the minimum salary is still too low.

The average monthly salary of those surveyed was VND3.817 million ($172). Overtime accounts for 20 to 25 per cent of total income, highlighting the importance of being able to work a few extra hours.

Respondents with children said that, on average, they are paid VND4.247 million ($192) a month, a 3.6 per cent increase compared to 2014 but still, they added, insufficient. Nearly 20 per cent said they don’t earn enough money to cover the cost of living and 31.3 per cent said that they have to be extremely frugal to get by.

Forty-seven per cent said that they earn enough to live on and only 0.8 per cent said they lived comfortably.

Regarding job satisfaction, 34 per cent said they had none, 52 per cent said it was at an acceptable level, and 15 per cent were fully satisfied.

The Deputy Chairman of the General Confederation of Labor, Mai Duc Chinh, said that the survey aimed only at establishing a reference point for proposals to increase the minimum salary.

Ninh Binh police seize gun parts, gunpowder

Authorities yesterday seized a large amount of gun parts, 3kg of gunpowder and 156 steam machines in the northern province of Ninh Binh.

The traffic police department under Ninh Binh Police and Ninh Binh's market watch department discovered the illegal goods, while searching a coach that was travelling from Ha Noi to the Central Highland Dak Lak Province.

All the gun parts and the gunpowder were stored in a carton sent by an unidentified man from Giap Bat bus station in Ha Noi to Dak Lak. Someone was supposed to receive the goods when the coach reached its destination, the driver of the coach said.

The 156 steam machines were also sent by another unidentified man from Giap Bat Station to Buon Me Thuot City in Dak Lak, the driver said.

The case is being investigated further.

Govt to pay for faulty vaccines

A draft decree outlining Government compensation for immunisations that fail or cause complications is facing obstacles.

Under the decree, people who suffer from serious complications after receiving vaccines through the free national immunisation prog-ramme will be compensated with up to the equivalent of 30 monthly minimum salaries, a total of about VND34.5 million (US$1,580).

Patients eligible for remuneration include those who need medical care for serious complications caused by the vaccine, said Tran Dac Phu, director of the Preventive Medicine Department.

In addition, any fatalities must be checked by professional councils run by the Health Department.

Compensation will cover the costs for a health check-up and treatment as well as sequelae, a condition that is the consequence of a previous disease or injury.

In the case of death, a patient's family would receive funeral expenses of about VND11.5 million ($526). Nguyen Nhat Cam, director of the Ha Noi Preventive Medicine Centre, said that compensation for vaccine-linked complications was reasonable.

Nguyen Trong An, deputy director of Research and Training Centre for Community Development, said complications that proved to be related to the vaccines were rare.

He also said that finding evidence to support a link to a vaccines' quality was difficult. Many families refused to allow an autopsy.

Phu said the draft Decree on Immunisation was open for public comment. All the feedback will be submitted to the Health Ministry for approval so that the regulation can take effect next year.

Viet Nam's Program of Immunisation is expanding to all communities in the country. The vaccine said to cause the most side effects is Quinvaxem, a vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, and Haemophilus influenzae type B infections.

About 15 complications or mistakes relating to vaccine injections have been reported since last year.

More than 1,000 poultry birds infected with A/H5N1

More than 1,000 fowls in a poultry flock from Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh, have been found to be infected with A/H5N1 avian flu, according to the Viet Nam Veterinary Department's Can Tho-based Veterinary Agency.

Among the animals that belonged to Nguyen Huu Toan, a farmer in Dua Do hamlet, Nhi Long Phu commune, Cang Long District, 1,000 chickens were 70 day old and 18 ducks were 40-day-old. As many as 892 fowls (890 chickens and 2 ducks) that tested positive for A/H5N1 flu had died.

The local authority destroyed all the dead fowls and culled the remaining 126 ones.

Nhi Long Phu commune was affected twice by avian flu outbreaks that occurred in February and March of 2014. Therefore, the risk of further outbreak in the province would be very high.

The provincial Veterinary Department has cooperated with local authorities to urgently implement measures to tackle the disease, control the local flock and those transported from other places to the locality in accordance with regulations to prevent the disease from spreading on a large scale.

HIV/AIDS patients slow to buy health insurance

Although the country was ready to pay part of the cost of HIV/AIDS treatment with medical insurance starting in the middle of the month, many still avoid buying the package because they're afraid their personal information will become known publicly.

Nguyen Hoang Long, head of the Department for HIV/AIDS Prevention, said only 30 per cent of people with HIV/AIDS have joined health insurance plans in Viet Nam.

A HIV/AIDS patient who is receiving treatment at HCM City's District 8, who wanted to stay anonymous, said he would rather pay for the treatment than revealing his identity.

Those with HIV/AIDS can get free treatment at health centres or public health consultant facilities nationwide.

Long said 80 per cent of the treatment costs were paid for by foreign sponsors. However, the funding from the sponsors was dwindling. Many of them wanted to support countries in more difficult situations.

The attempt to expand health insurance coverage to more people with HIV/AIDS is part of an effort to gradually shift the payment of treatment fees from foreign-funded projects and programmes to the country's health insurance fund.

It is estimated that by 2018 foreign funding for HIV/AIDS treatment will be completely cut off. If a patient purchases health insurance they will only have to pay for part of the treatment.

The health sector has encouraged those living with HIV to go to local medical facilities where health insurance cards cover their treatment costs, instead of outpatient clinics.

Unfortunately, for fear of being stigmatised, many patients are still avoiding visiting medical facilities near their homes, posing a significant barrier to covered health insurance treatments, Long said.

Nguyen Ngoc Thoa, deputy head of the Community Support and Consultancy Centre in HCM City's District 8, said she was worried that if the situation was not to be addressed, patients' conditions would get worse.

Meanwhile, Tieu Thi Thu Van, head of the city's Committee for HIV/AIDS Prevention, said the city would work on a programme that kept all patient information confidential.

Van also said patients with health insurance would still have to pay part of the treatment costs, but that it would probably be quite affordable.

In the first six months of the year there were 832 new cases of HIV/AIDS in HCM City.

Career day helps grads seek out employment

As job vacancies for students graduating from local universities in Hue are far from abundant, university boards have come up with "career day" events to bring outside recruiters to their students.

Nguyen Tien Duan, a graduate from Hue University of Forestry and Agriculture, received job offers from animal feed producer De Heus and agriculture developer and trader Cargill after he attended the university's career day in May.

"It's quite hard to get a job as a graduate. Career day is a great chance for students to be found by recruiters. It helps to bring companies closer to qualified students," Duan said.

Ten businesses at the event recruited a total 300 students.

A similar event at Hue University of Economics helped link 500 students to 24 businesses from leading cities. Other universities, including the University of Foreign Languages, the University of Sciences and College of Industry, organised similar events.

A university official said the career days had made university boards rethink their training curricula to make sure their courses stayed closer to the needs of recruiters. He said university boards planned to have more career days.

Hue City is home to 10 universities and colleges that train thousands of students a year. But most graduates have had to travel to southern economic hubs including HCM City, Dong Nai and Ba Ria - Vung Tau to find a job.

However, experts said training programmes used at universities did not often match the practical demands of local businesses.

Le Dac Nguyen Quy, who runs several bars and restaurants for foreigners in the city, said tourism faculties had not been able to provide qualified workers who could speak good English.

"Graduates often don't have a sound basic knowledge of tourism and the skills they receive are often quite obsolete," he said, adding that he spent a lot of time retraining.

Incham to hold blood donation day Sunday

The Indian Business Chamber in Vietnam (Incham) is organizing a blood donation day in association with Red Cross of HCMC this Sunday between 8.00 a.m. and noon at the Youth Cultural Center at 4 Pham Ngoc Thach Street, District 1, HCMC.

Incham, which represents the Indian business community in Vietnam, said in a statement that they are trying to spread the positive message that blood donation is a social responsibility.

Moreover, donating blood has many proven health benefits. It is linked to reductions in heart attack rates and cholesterol levels. Regular blood donations also reduce the risk of cancer. It also offers blood donors a chance for free health screening and blood testing for some major maladies, which are potentially fatal.

For all donors, Red Cross of HCMC will issue a donor card and undertake to give an equal amount of blood donated free of charge in a situation where the donor needs it. This card has no time limitation.

Airlines join smuggling fight

The Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam (CAAV) has adopted bold measures to prevent smuggling and illegal transportation of goods.

Under a new regulation issued last week, CAAV asked the aviation sector to co-ordinate with concerned agencies in the fight against smuggling, commercial fraud and counterfeiting.

CAAV also asked Vietnam Airlines to co-operate with Viet Nam Customs and the Police General Department to organise training courses for aviation security forces on how to recognise fake goods and stop smugglers.

CAAV emphasised that organisations and individuals who transported smuggled goods would be strictly punished. It is necessary to clarify the responsibilities of government officials and especially the head of the office where the violations occur.

The CAAV has required units under its leadership to install more surveillance cameras at airports and improve their operations to prevent smuggling.

This move followed a gold smuggling scandal involving a Vietnam Airlines captain and a flight attendant in March, in which South Korean customs found six kilos of gold hidden in their shoes without customs declaration.

Nguyen Van Chien, deputy head of the customs branch at Noi Bai Airport, said in recent times some aviation staff members had taken advantage of their positions to illegal transport goods on flights. He said the branch had been co-operating with relevant forces at the airport to enhance inspections and detect violations.

Customs officials at Tan Son Nhat Airport said they were studying smuggler techniques so they could teach their employees how to stop them. They also made detailed plans on how to solve a case of illegal transportation of drugs or prohibited goods whenever they got information on a suspect.

According to Steering Committee 389, which leads the national fight against smuggling, commercial fraud and counterfeit, the number of violations discovered through airlines is on the rise at Tan Son Nhat and Noi Bai. Do Thanh Quang, head of the Customs Branch at Tan Son Nhat Airport, admitted that their employees faced a lot of pressure when it came to smuggling by air. Passengers often came to do immigration procedures close to the flight time, making inspections harder for customs employees, he said.

Tong Le Dan, deputy head of customs at the airport said it is the most important gateway for foreign travellers and goods entering the country, and in recent years has become a black market hot spot ripe with traffickers of all kinds of illegal goods.

As such, the branch has faced a lot difficulties in the fight against smuggling and illegal transportation of drugs.

Over the past two years, the Customs Branch at Tan Son Nhat Airport has intercepted more than 576.6kg of ivory and 48.6kg of rhino horn. The branch has also detected 43 cases of smuggling involving 104kg of drugs.

Noi Bai Customs has dealt with more than 70 smuggling cases since last year involving drugs, gold, weapons, wild animals and animal products.

Noi Bai Customs and anti-smuggling officials on Wednesday found nearly 100kg of ivory and 5kg of rhino horns in four packages of luggage travelling from Africa by air.

In April, officials seized 65.4kg of ivory and rhino horns transported from France by air.

Thousands of fake goods seized

Market Watch forces in Ha Noi in collaboration with the People's Committee of Hoan Kiem District seized nearly 4000 counterfeit products yesterday in the city's Old Quarter.

The fake products were disguised as North Face products from the United States. They consisted of backpacks, clothes, shoes, bags and hats.

Meanwhile, Quang Ninh's Market Watch Department seized 6,000 fake tubes of lipstick on Tuesday.

The authority seized a truck the lipstick and 1,000 fake electric motorcycle locks falsely branded Honda.

The driver of the truck could not show any certification proving the product's origins. He admitted being hired by an unidentified man to deliver the products.

The driver was fined more than VND45 million (US$2,100).

Landslide damages Highway 4D

The traffic on a section of National Highway 4D, passing through the northern mountain Lai Chau Province, has been affected due to the damage caused by landslides late yesterday.

Mud and boulders up to 5m wide and weighing an estimated 1,000cu.m are covering about 17m of National Highway 4D, which links the two northern mountain provinces of Lai Chau and Lao Cai.

The landslide occurred yesterday evening at Km67+800 in Tam Duong District, causing inconvenience to much of the traffic there.

Lai Chau provincial traffic police were immediately sent to the area to resolve the situation, but it was difficult to complete the work early because of the heavy damage caused by the landslide.

A local witness said besides a great amount of earth, a large boulder was lying on the road that would have to be removed by a bulldozer.

Currently, workers and machines from the Construction Joint Stock Company No 3, which specialises in bridge and road construction and management, are trying to deal with the problem.

However, they said the removal of such a large amount of earth and rocks was a hard task that could not be completed soon.

Nguyen Kien Chung, deputy director of the Construction Joint Stock Company No 3, said the land surface in the area was weak, making it easy for landslides to occur.

The recent rainy season was also one of the reasons for the landslide, Chung added.

The deputy director said the company had sent all its workers and machines to the area, including a modern rock-cutting machine to help remove the large boulder.

Traffic was expected to return to normal later today, Chung said.

Noi Bai gets more sleeping pods

Ha Noi's Noi Bai International Airport has installed more sleeping pods for passengers waiting because of delayed or cancelled flights at its Terminal Two.

The Viet Nam Aviation Tourism Corp (VATC) on Monday added six new double pods to the 11 double and three single pods it installed in T1 in July.

The pods are equipped with a bed, wardrobe, telephone line, TV, and wi-fi connection.

A double costs VND150,000 (US$7) per hour for the first six hours and VND142,000 ($5) per hour for the next three.

It costs VND1.136 million ($51) for eight to 24 hours.

The company is offering a 15 per cent discount until August 31.  

Nam Hai Resort offers new tours

Luxury resort Nam Hai has tied up with local operators to offer a pair of new excursions to celebrate its 10th anniversary next year.

The Villages Tour, costing VND3.15 million ($145) per person by car or minivan and VND7.14 million ($330) by jeep, is a day trip to Bho Hoong and Trung Mung hamlets, where guests can experience ethnic life.

Highlights include a guided walk with a local resident, tea with the former king of the Co Tu people and a front-row seat at a traditional music performance.

The Helicopter Tour, priced at VND3.8 million ($175) per person, is a 12-minute aerial tour of Da Nang, home to some of Viet Nam's most iconic attractions including Marble Mountain and Son Tra Peninsula.

Hai Duong speeds up social housing construction

The northern province of Hai Duong is speeding up its social housing projects to provide accommodation for locals with low income, according to the provincial Department of Construction.

So far, the construction of a five-storey building with 82 apartments in Ai Quoc ward in Hai Duong city has been finished, while the Tue Linh project in the city, which has 92 apartments, is scheduled to become available at the end of the year.

Two other projects licensed by the provincial People’s Committee in Hai Duong city’s east Ngo Quyen Street with 216 apartments and Gia Loc district are set to be implemented soon.

According to Pham Viet Nhanh, Head of the Housing and Real Property Market Desk under the Department of Construction, social housing policies in the province have been effectively applied with favourable conditions for investors.

Specifically, investors have land use fee and rent exemptions, preferential tax rates and credit support along with other assistance including connection infrastructure, sample social housing designs and advanced construction technology, he said.

Hospitalization among children increases for respiratory problems

There has been an increase in the number of children suffering bronchitis and pneumonia in August, said head of the Respiratory Ward in the city’s Children Hospital No.1 Dr. Tran Anh Tuan.

Only on August 12, the hospital received 94 children who have the respiratory problem. There are 276 inpatients now while the ward has 100 beds only.

Medical workers say that this time marks a seasonal transition and the weather changes abruptly, the humidity in the air is high offering favorite condition for development of diseases.

Medical treatment quality to improve after service hike: experts

Though there has been an increase in health services, it is not enough; accordingly, in the future, the ministries of Health and Finance will ask to hike medical fee.

In the road map for increasing medical fee, health services will include operation bonus and salary for medical workers in these last months in 2015 and 2016, said Nguyen Nam Lien, deputy head of the Health Ministry’s Department of Planning and Finance.

The two ministries are waiting for approval to the circular proposing the new fees for over 17,500 techniques. Once the new fee is approved, the cost for bed will surge by VND10,000-VND20,000 (US$0.45-US$0.90) a day; operation cost will increase by  VND300,000- VND1.5 million (US$13.57-US$67.87) per case and medical workers’ monthly salary also increase.

The hike in medical service will include negative and positive factors. Luong Ngoc Khue, head of the Ministry's Department of Medical Examination and Treatment, said that the adjustment in medical fee will improve examination and treatment quality as well as offer a fair competition between private and public hospitals.

Nguyen Nam Lien said that on basis, the hike in medical services will not affect 14 million poor people, ethnic minority people, those in serving in accordance with the country’s revolution and 9 million children below 6 year old who benefit most of health insurance. Yet experts said that families whose economic condition are close to poverty line and those who work in fishery, agriculture, forestry will pay more as they must pay half of the fee.

Worse, increase in medical cost will directly affect to nearly 30 percent of the country’s population or nearly 26 million residents most of them are unstable-income laborers, farmers and those who are close to poverty line because these people don’t buy health insurance.

Therefore these people should buy medical insurance to reduce burden of health cost if they are ill. Though people in close to poverty line receive the government’s support up to 70 percent of health insurance, they must pay VND200,000 (US$ 9.05) annually which is a big amount to them.

Youth Union plans ample activities to celebrate National Day

The Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee (HCYU) has planned a series of activities to mark the 70th anniversary of the August Revolution (August 19) and National Day (September 2), announced the HCYU at a press conference on August 13.

Accordingly, a grand music gala titled ‘Proud of My Fatherland’ will be staged in Hanoi on the evening of August 17, attracting the participation of 4,000 artists, actors, actresses, and youth union members.

The gala, to be broadcast live on Vietnam Television, will feature voices of popular singers including My Tam, Doan Trang, Phuong Linh, Trong Tan, and Ha Anh Tuan.

In addition, four forums will be held under the theme ‘I Love My Country’ to highlight the great significance and historical value of the August Revolution and the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

The events are expected to create an opportunity for the youth to express their gratitude to their ancestors who made countless sacrifices for national independence and reunification while reaffirming their determination to follow the country’s revolution in constructing and safeguarding the motherland.

More than 400 outstanding young people representing millions of youth union members nationwide will join a grand parade at Ba Dinh square in Hanoi on September 2 in celebration of National Day.

An exhibition will also be organised from August 28 to September 3 at the Vietnam Exhibition Fair Center in Hanoi on the occasion with works showcasing the Vietnamese youth’s contributions to national development.

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