Khmer people celebrate traditional New Year

Home to the largest number of Khmer people in the Mekong Delta, Soc Trang province has recently been celebrating the traditional Chol Chnam Thmay New Year festival.

Chol Chnam Thmay is one of the most important events of the year for the Khmer community. It usually lasts three days and is celebrated in pagodas.

More than 400,000 Khmer people in Soc Trang are marking this year’s festival, which falls on April 13-16, or the seventh to tenth day of the third lunar month.

Prior to the festival, representatives from the provincial Party Committee, the People’s Committee, the Fatherland Front and other organisations presented gifts to Buddhist Khmer dignitaries and households.

More than 400 households in Lieu Tu commune, Tran De district and Vinh Hai commune in Vinh Chau town have two reasons to celebrate as they now have access to fresh water amid the severe drought.

200 poor households in Tra Set village, Vinh Hai commune, Vinh Chau district, are celebrating the New Year in their new houses which were built under a project for ethnic groups in the village.

The 90-hectare Tra Set residential area was built at a total cost of 37 billion VND (roughly 1.7 million USD), of which 35 billion VND (1.6 million USD) was sourced from the State budge. It included transport, electricity, education, health care and water supply facilities.

According to Nguyen Trung Hieu, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, the locality has effectively implemented Party and State policies towards ethnic groups and raised their living standards.

Government Programme 135, which aims to improve living conditions for rural residents with a focus on ethnic communities, has benefited 44 communes and 72 villages in the province over the past five years, he said.

From 2011-2015, the province invested more than 363 billion VND (16.3 million USD) with 342 billion VND (15.4 million USD) coming from State funds, to upgrade infrastructure and boost local production.

As much as 62 billion VND (2.8 million USD) has been allocated to over 11,300 Khmer households to help them escape from poverty in a sustainable manner, the official noted.

Other southern provinces are also organising activities to mark the Khmer New Year festival.

Secretary of the Hau Giang province Party Committee Tran Cong Chanh and heads of other provincial departments and agencies visited Buddhist Khmer monks, nuns and followers at the Ochumpruksa Pagoda in Vi Thuy commune, Vi Thuy district.

Hau Giang is home to more than 22,000 Khmer people, who have contributed greatly to local socio-economic development, Chanh said.

In Vinh Long province, provincial leaders paid New Year visits to 13 Theravada Buddhist sect pagodas, the provincial Patriotic United Buddhist Association, the boarding school for ethnic students and Khmer people from April 11-14.

Vinh Long is home to more than 22,500 Khmer people residing in Tra On, Tam Binh and Vung Liem districts and Binh Minh town.

Over the past years, thanks to a range of programmes and projects, local Khmer people have seen their living standards improve significantly with the poverty rate dropping to 17.62 percent of the Khmer population by the end of 2015.

Norway supports disabled people in Can Tho, Ca Mau

The Norwegian Mission Alliance in Vietnam will provide 451,000 USD to implement a project on social integration for the disabled in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho and in southern Ca Mau province.

The project is set to be carried out in Can Tho city’s Ninh Kieu district and Ca Mau province’s Thoi Binh district from March 1, 2016 to December 31, 2020.

At a conference to launch the project, chairwoman of the Vietnam Federation on Disability Dang Huynh Mai said that the project will focus on developing local organisations of the disabled, raising public awareness of disabled people as well as providing education and training to the disabled.

Since its establishment in 2013, Can Tho city’s Association of People with Disabilities has helped disabled people integrate into society. The federation has provided free training for nearly 200 members, found jobs for some 200 people while providing medical checkups, medicine and healthcare insurance for nearly 500 people.

It also organised foreign language, computer science and soft skill classes for the disabled.

Phu Yen boosts cooperation in hi-tech agriculture

The management board of the Phu Yen hi-tech agriculture park signed a number of cooperation agreements with domestic and foreign partners at a conference in the central province of Phu Yen on April 13.

Its partners were the Institute of Agricultural Science for Southern Vietnam , the Institute for hi-tech agriculture application and research under Da Lat University and Raycean INC Japan.

The province- based Dac Loc seafood enterprise also signed Memoranda of Understanding on collaboration with Fuji Consulting Japan Co, Ltd, Mimosa Technology Co., and the Integrated Circuit Design Research & Education Centre.

At the conference, participants agreed to entrust Ho Chi Minh City ’s Hi-tech Agriculture Park to connect the activities of hi-tech agriculture zones and groups with domestic and foreign organisations, as well as investors and businesses interested in this field.

The city’s park will also chair the building of a research and production supply chain to sell hi-tech farm produce.

The panels were introduced to the potential, advantages and investment opportunities in Phu Yen province and its hi-tech agriculture park.

They also heard about the operation and development orientations of the park, as well as some operational models using high technology such as growing mushrooms and breeding shrimp.

Environment matters to rural areas during development

Environment, a criterion in the national target programme on new countryside development, remains a major challenge facing localities nationwide, to fully realise the Government’s initiative, which is meant to boost rural regions.

It is among the shortcomings arising from the implementation of the programme between 2010 and 2015, the supervisory delegation of the National Assembly Standing Committee said at a working session on April 13.

The programme, launched in 2010, set out 19 criteria for a new-style rural area covering infrastructure, production, living standards, income, culture and others.

The supervisory delegation pointed out the gap in the implementation outcomes among regions. Up to 46.4 percent and 42.8 percent of the communes in the Southeast and the Red River Delta have successfully realised all the criteria, respectively.

Meanwhile, the rates are much lower in the northern mountainous region (8.2 percent), the Central Highlands (13.2 percent), and the Mekong Delta (16.7 percent).

The localities have focused too much on upgrading infrastructure while neglecting the development of profitable production models.

Some of them have just simply raced to obtain as many criteria as possible without due attention to the work’s quality. Others are unable to pay off debts borrowed to build infrastructure, the supervisory delegation said.

Summarising the outcomes, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat said the programme has attracted residents to the new countryside development efforts.

As of March 2016, 1,761 communes or 19.7 percent of all communes across Vietnam had obtained the new-style rural area status.

Rural per capita income now averages 24.4 million VND (over 1,090 USD) per annum, about 1.9 times higher than that in 2010. It is partly attributable to the expansion of cash crop production, he said.

While the strongly developed infrastructure network has given a facelift to many areas, the material and spiritual life of rural residents has been improved, he added.

National target program on building new areas under scrutiny

A supervisory team from the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee and representatives from the government and ministries have discussed the implementation of a national target program on building new areas combined with agricultural restructuring over the past five years.

At their meeting in Hanoi on April 13, participants said that by March this year Vietnam had more than 1,760 communes that met the criteria for new rural areas with annual income per capita reaching nearly US$2,000.

The poverty rate was reduced from 17.4% to 8.2%.

Phung Duc Tien, a member of the National Assembly’s Committee for Science, Technology and Environment, underscored the need to generate jobs for the rural workforce because vocational training and job generation are one of criteria for building new rural areas.

 “Currently, there is a movement to reserve farm land for large scale production. The new NA Resolution stipulates that by 2020, 40% of the workforce should be in the rural areas, while the current rate is 45%. If the farm land is accumulated without taking into account job generation for the people, problems will arise," he said.

JICA volunteer helps restore Hoi An

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has picked Kamogawa Yasushi, a senior volunteer specializing in architecture, to work at the Hoi An Center for Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation in the ancient town of Hoi An in the central coast province of Quang Nam.

Yasushi belongs to the 52nd batch of volunteers sent to work at the preservation center in Hoi An. Yasushi, who previously helped restore the ancient village of Duong Lam in Hanoi for two years, will help monitor the restoration of wooden architectures in Hoi An from now till January 2017.

Man gifts photos of Vietnamese community in France to HCM City

A Vietnamese-French septuagenarian has sent to HCM City over 300 photos featuring the Vietnamese community in France.

Lê Tấn Xuân, 77, took photos at various community events like Lunar New Year, Hồ Chí Minh’s birth anniversary, Independence Day, Prime Minister Phạm Văn Đồng’s visit to France, and others, capturing the community’s cultural evolution over the years.

He has been a photographer and member of the Vietnamese community in France for 50 years.

This year the country will celebrate the 105th anniversary of Hồ Chí Minh’s departure from HCM City in his quest for national salvation and 70th anniversary of his visit to France as president, and through the photos Xuân hopes to contribute to the occasions.

Practice shooting at targets without bullets

Shooting is a sport that requires hard training and practice from those who participate in it. However, many shooters from the national shooting team have practiced shooting without bullets over the past year.

What they needed to do during the shooting practice was just hold the guns, look into the telescopic sights and pull the trigger. However, no bullets were fired and the shooters have no idea whether they could hit the target or not.

They remind me of my son at home when he plays a game with a plastic gun. His ‘shooting’ and the game, of course, bring him no shooting skills.

Shooter Hà Minh Thành said it was totally different practicing to shoot with  and without bullets. Shooting with bullets help the shooters feel the kickback of the gun for proper adjustment and to shoot the target accurately. However, shooting without bullets did help you practice the steps of shooting, he said.

Hồ Thanh Hải, a coach from the Military Shooting Team, said only when bullets were used would coaches know exactly which athletes shot well or not.

The key reason behind the shortage of bullets is the shortage of funds.  

Meanwhile, shooters across the world and in the region have never faced a shortage of bullets. They even practise with very high quality products imported from Europe, according to a coach from the national shooting team.

We can partly sympathy with the athletes for their failure to compete with others at regional or international competitions.

Violation punishers found breaking rules

Inspectors of Ba Đình Ward in the central province of Thanh Hóa have recently been found driving a car with an expired registration on their hunt for urban violations such as illegal parking and the illegal use of pavements.

However, while trying to uncover infractions and punish violators, the inspectors themselves were violating Government regulations on the technical safety of road travelling vehicles.

The car’s registration had expired and should not have been allowed on the road since 2013.

The case caused great concern among the public, as these officials who are responsible for punishing violators, broke the regulations themselves.

A representative from the People’s Committee of Ba Đình Ward explained that the inspectors temporarily used the car because they did not have enough funds to buy a new one.

However, Lê Xuân Hòa, Deputy Head of the People’s Committee of Thanh Hóa province’s Urban Regulation Office, said it was unpleasant to see these inspectors breaking the rules while they are on duty to look for violations.

Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc, who doubles as chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee, has recently asked the concerned agencies to control vehicles with expired registrations as the use of these vehicles may lead to a higher risk of road accidents.

Head of Thanh Hóa’s Traffic Police, Nguyễn Hồng Hải, said that cars with expired registrations would be confiscated.

To prevent urban violations, inspectors themselves should provide a good example for people to follow, instead of a bad one.

Training to empower women in hospitality

Hundreds of female hospitality workers in Hanoi to be empowered via comprehensive soft skills training program conducted by Diageo.

Diageo Vietnam, in partnership with the Kenan Institute Asia, launched the “Developing Soft Skills for Female Vietnamese Hospitality Workers” program at a function held at the Hilton Hanoi Opera hotel. The event welcomed representatives of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, the Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Vietnam Tourism Association, non-profit and non-government organizations, four-star and five-star hotels, female workers in the hospitality sector, and the media.

The program is part of the “Plan W - Empowering Women Through Training” campaign of Diageo in Asia Pacific, aimed at empowering women in the region in the 2013-2017 period.

Under the program, from now to June Diageo and Kenan will collaborate with 12 high-end hotels in Hanoi to provide training to empower 700 female hospitality workers. The training aims to improve workplace performance and promote the psychological well-being of female hospitality workers through the development of interpersonal skills, including teamwork, problem-solving and effective communication. In addition, female hospitality workers participating in the project will increase awareness about the DRINKiQ program, which has been initiated and implemented by Diageo in collaboration with relevant ministries and agencies in Vietnam.

“Over past years, within this Plan W campaign, Diageo Vietnam has conducted various relevant soft skills training to empower women who are working at companies, in the industry and in the community as well,” said Shivam Misra, General Director of Diageo Vietnam. “Plan W is expected to enable Diageo to offer Vietnamese women more choices and opportunities to prove their capabilities, to make progress in the workplace and their career, enabling them to create better living standards for their children and families.”

Women account for the most workers in Vietnam’s tourism sector and 72 per cent of employees in hospitality. “We strongly believe that soft skills, including excellent communications, are important tools to help women raise their voices in the workplace and in life,” he added.

In this partnership with Diageo, Kenan has worked closely with Hilton worldwide to design the training program with the goal of improving the lives of women in the hospitality sector and improving the industry as a whole, not only in this year but in the years to come. “Strong communications and interpersonal skills are critical in all occupations but especially in the hospitality industry,” said Kenan’s Vietnam Program Manager, Phan Kieu Anh. “Many employers have recognized the need for such skills but few have the necessary curriculum or expertise to conduct such training. We are excited to work with Diageo to bring this much-needed and proven training to women in the hospitality industry in Hanoi, giving them powerful tools to empower themselves and improve their circumstances.”

The project in Vietnam builds on the successful work conducted by Kenan and Diageo in Thailand in 2014-2015, where over 600 female hospitality workers were trained in interpersonal and other soft skills at Hilton hotels in major tourist destinations. The curriculum has been adjusted to fit the Vietnamese context and was successfully piloted with 68 female hospitality workers in Hanoi in late 2015 and early 2016.

RMIT expands scholarship program

RMIT Vietnam will grant 112 scholarships in 2016 to current and prospective students, irrespective of nationality.

Valued at more than VND31 billion ($1.4 million) in total, the scholarships will be allocated in nine categories.

Covering 100, 50 or 25 per cent of tuition fees, the scholarships are being offered for studies in fields such as business, technology, design, communications, fashion (merchandising management), as well as logistics and supply chain management at RMIT Vietnam Saigon South or Hanoi City campus.

RMIT Vietnam President Professor Gael McDonald emphasized the expansion of the scholarship program to students of different nationalities attending high school in Vietnam.

“Vietnamese students or students from different countries who complete Grade 12 in Vietnam will be able to apply for this year’s scholarship program,” Ms. Mc Donald said. “In the first semester of 2016 the university welcomed a record number of international students, with more than 230 from 34 countries.”

“Through the scholarship program’s new initiatives, the university wants to become a destination for many more international students in order to create a real multicultural and global learning environment.”

“The two fashion scholarships, which cover 50 per cent of tuition fees, are open exclusively to students who have demonstrated a flair in creativity, marketing and/or business in the field of fashion. The two new full tuition doctoral scholarships for Vietnamese women announced in March are also a new initiative in this year’s scholarship program.”

RMIT Vietnam also has a new initiative to provide opportunities for students in particular regions to pursue higher education. This year it will grant two partial scholarships to students in Da Nang and Quang Ninh.

Applications for the 2016 scholarships must be submitted before 5pm (GMT+7) on July 15, 2016.

For more information on the scholarship program please see www.rmit.edu.vn/scholarships or contact the Scholarship Program Coordinator on (84 8) 3776 1412 or email scholarships@rmit.edu.vn.

Policies support socio-economic development in mountain regions

Over the past two years, a number of programs supporting ethnic minority people in mountain regions have succeeded thanks to government efforts to strengthen international cooperation and support for those programs.

Financial resources have been devoted to economic growth, healthcare, education, training, and social issues, thereby reducing poverty and improving local living conditions.

In recent years, the Vietnamese government has devoted part of its budget to social security programs in ethnic minority areas.

Last year alone, the National Assembly Standing Committee allocated US$240 million to social security projects in ethnic regions, focusing on land for farming, productivity, and safe water.

At a conference on investment and economic development, 180 non-governmental organizations, and domestic and foreign enterprises pledged to invest in ethnic minority areas until 2020.

Bac Giang is one province that has used the financial assistance resources effectively.

Chu Quy Minh, Deputy Director of Bac Giang’s provincial Department of Ethnic Affairs, said, "The province concentrates on agricultural development in the direction of combining goods production and crop and animal restructuring based on zone planning suitable to each village and commune to fully tap their advantages."

"Agriculture and craft industry have been prioritized while trading has been linked to handicrafts in rural areas. We’ve also focused on hard currency earners in ethnic and mountain regions,” he added.

Over the past 5 years, Loc Huong Export-Import Company has worked with residents and authorities in Yen Bai and Son La province to boost local farm products.

Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong, the company’s Director General, said many of Vietnamese agricultural products have high economic values and are much sought after by foreigners.

Tao meo or green crab apple, the wild fruit in Vietnam's northwest mountains, is an example. But Huong said it requires multifaceted support for farmers, especially in farming techniques to turn “tao meo” fruit into an export item of high profit.

“The first step is to instruct local ethnic farmers how to grow and tell them not to destroy the trees after each harvest. The second step is to put the collected fruits into processing. We’ve directed ethnic women to apply science and technology to production and told them the importance of making qualified products in line with foreign partners’ requirements,” Huong noted.

The Mr. Sach supermarket chain has cooperated with farmers in Hoa Binh, Bac Giang, Bac Ninh, and neighboring areas to develop a closed, safe food supply model for Hanoi residents. Nguyen Quang Huy, the system’s managing director, said fully tapping the advantages of ethnic minority regions is one of the company’s long-term strategies.

But Huy said there remain many obstacles to increasing ethnic farmers’ incomes.

“Weather conditions, cultivation habits, and transportation from mountainous to lowland areas make it harder to preserve products. We’ve coordinated with local agencies and the breeding and farming center to help local people understand what a safe product is. We’ll try to find outlets for local products,” Huy noted.

Nguyen Quang Duc, Director of the International Cooperation Department of the Government Committee on Ethnic Affairs, said policies to support ethnic minority areas, together with active involvement of enterprises and producers, helped reduce the poverty rate by 4% in ethnic minority areas, while their living conditions have greatly improved.

Hai Duong province boasts historical and cultural tradition

Hai Duong province in the Red River Delta is considered to be the cradle of the Vietnamese culture. The province embraces an age-old culture and history.

Hai Duong city, 60 km east of Hanoi, has been well-known for its rich culture, long history, and learning tradition. In the past, the province had 472 scholars including 11 first-ranking doctoral laureates.

Mo Trach village in Binh Giang is honored as the Doctor Village because it produced 39 holders of doctorate degrees during feudal times. The province set up a Temple of Literature to honor the local learning tradition. Famous scholars from Hai Duong include Nguyen Trai, Tue Tinh, Mac Dinh Chi, Pham Su Manh and Nguyen Phi Khanh.

Hai Duong has great tourist potential thanks to its numerous festivals, cultural and tourist sites. The province has 2,000 historical and cultural relics, 125 which are ranked as national relic sites.

Tran Lieu temple, Tran Hung Dao monument, An Phu pagoda, Kinh Chu hi cave, the Temple of Literature, and Con Son-Kiep Bac relic are the most famous sites in the region. Covering an area of more than 8 hectares in Chi Linh town, the Con Son-Kiep Bac historical site is closely associated with the lives and careers of outstanding national hero Tran Hung Dao, the great writer Nguyen Trai, and the great teacher Chu Van An. Le Duy Manh is Deputy Head of the Con Son - Kiep Bac Relic Site Management Board.

The Con Son- Kiep Bac is a religious center in the northeastern region. It is on the pilgrimage path from Thang Long citadel to the Yen Tu Buddhist Holy Land. Con Son pagoda worships Huyen Quang Ton Gia, the third progenitor of Truc Lam Zen Buddhism.

Five kilometre from Con Son pagoda is Kiep Bac temple, which worships military leader Tran Hung Dao. Next to Kiep Bac temple is a temple dedicated to the Confucianism teacher Chu Van An.

Hai Duong is famous for not only its historical and relic sites but also its numerous traditional festivals. The bell ringing festival in Dong Ngo pagoda, Thanh Ha district, is the first festival of the year. But the biggest festival is the Kiep Bac Temple festival which is held during the 8th lunar month.

Traditional festivals in Hai Duong often feature processions, folk games, swimming contests, and stick fighting, which maintain the cultural characteristics of the Red River Delta. More than 500 local traditional festivals have been restored so far.

Hai Duong province preserves several traditional theater and art genres like Cheo traditional theater, Tuong opera, Ca Tru singing, duet singing, lullabies, and water puppetry. There are three water puppet troupes in Hai Duong.

Pham Van Tong, Head of the Water Puppetry Troup of Hong Phong commune said the art-form first appeared in Hong Phong commune during the 17th century and all the puppets are handled by strings. Local people perform water puppetry after a hard working day. The performances feature local people’s daily activities. These performances entertain and celebrate the people’s lives.

Hai Duong is also famous for local specialties such as glutinous rice, lychees, green bean cakes, and gai cakes or thorn leaf black cakes. Local craft villages like Kinh Chu stone carving village, Dong Giao wood carving village, Chau Khe jewelry village, and Cay and Chu Dao ceramic village also preserve their traditional crafts.

Quang Binh quashes Son Doong ‘largest cave’ application

The People’s Committee of Quang Binh Province have voted to rescind their application for Son Doong Cave to be recognized as a world’s largest cave, citing the associated fees as excessive.

According to a spokesperson, the Committee received an email from the World Records Unions requesting fees of US$9,200 to complete the process, which fee proposal was rejected out of hand.

The spokesperson said the Son Doong Cave has already received recognition as the largest cave around the globe by The World Guinness Organization and from a cost/benefit perspective didn’t see the value in the additional designation.

Particularly, in light of the fact that the adventure tours to Son Doong Cave have already been fully booked for next few years.

Women and child protection – from laws to actions

Vietnam is considered a country with a relatively complete legal framework on women and children’s right protection, yet law enforcement and enforcement monitoring still need improvement.

During 2011-2015, had more than 8,200 cases of child abuse with nearly 10,000 victims, an increase of 258 victims compared to the previous five years, including 5,300 cases of sexual abuse, accounting for about 65% of cases. In 2011, there were over 1,000 suspects arrested, and the figure increased to more than 1,400 in 2015.

The most recent study by Action Aid Vietnam showed that up to 87% of women in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City had suffered from sexual harassment in public places, and 67% of witnesses kept silent or did not to take action to help the victims.

The cause for this situation stems from families and schools’ inadequate awareness on the seriousness of the problem, and the lack of knowledge and skills needed to protect children and women from all forms of abuse and violence.

The lack of strict handling mechanisms set some serious criminal cases only in civil negotiations. The legal system’s loopholes are also among the cause. The law against domestic violence has raised the issue of sexual violence, but did not specify any particular behaviour considered sexual violence. The Labour Code mentions sexual harassment but did not define sexual harassment.

As caring for, educating and protecting children is the responsibility of the whole society, the Ministry of Education and Training should develop curriculum related to gender equality and child protection from the primary to high school level with age-appropriate knowledge and skills to help them understand and proactively protect themselves.

Meanwhile, relevant authorities should step up law enforcement supervision at the local level, especially the Law against domestic violence, the Law on Children Protection, Care and Education, to promptly detect and strictly handle violent incidents.

On April 5, the National Assembly passed amendments to the child law with seven chapters and 106 articles. In particular, acts prohibited by the law were also stipulated, including deprivation of the means of life for children; abandonment, neglect, trafficking, kidnapping, or exchanging children; sexual abuse, violence, exploitation of children; and organising, supporting, instigating, and forcing child marriage.

The law also specified the rights of children, in which children have the right to be protected in all forms, not being forced to join premature labor, do heavy, harmful or dangerous work, and not being arranged with work or in workplace that adversely affect children’s personality and their comprehensive development.

Law enforcement agencies from the local level need to put victims at the centre and co-ordinate with relevant agencies and units to timely and lawfully handle incidents. In the settlement of sexual abuse and violence against women and girls, law enforcement officers need to be gender sensitive, as well as equipped with knowledge and skills to work with vulnerable groups.

It is necessary to closely monitor the compliance of the Law on gender equality at media agencies to ensure that communication not maintain any gender stereotypes.

Supplements to legal provisions in the labor law concerning sexual harassment in public places in the new National Assembly session is also another must.

Multiple solutions taken to ensure power supply in southern region

The Southern Power Corporation of the Electricity of Vietnam (EVNSPC) has employed synchronous solutions to meet the increasing demand for power in the region, said EVCSPC Deputy General Director Nguyen Phuoc Duc.

Duc told the Vietnam News Agency that his corporation requested the Southern High Voltage Electricity Company monitor power consumption and outline an operation method for the 110kV power grid to ease power losses.

Electricity companies in cities and provinces were asked to partner with local Departments of Industry and Trade to roll out monthly and yearly power supply plans, which will be submitted to the municipal and provincial People’s Committees for approval.

Power should be prioritised for fresh water supply, health care services and drought and disease prevention, as well as major socio-political events, Duc said.

The official said the corporation has teamed up with relevant agencies to reduce the time and scope of power outages and organise weekly teleconferences discussing how to make the work run smoothly.

According to Duc, although electricity facilities in the southern region have proven effective over the past years, raising public awareness of energy saving is an important job.

A range of communication campaigns have been launched to encourage the efficient use of energy such as Earth Hour and Power-Saving Day, he said.

Duc said the total water volume in southern hydropower stations makes up only 80 percent of the dams’ accumulated capacity, causing a power shortage of about 3.22 billion kWh in 2016.

Southern localities are forecast to consume up to 8,450 MW this year, up 9.98 percent against the figure recorded in 2015 with the March-June period set to be the peak time for consumption.

Power output in 2016 is expected to hit 55 billion kWh, representing a year-on-year increase of 11 percent, he said.

Medical target programmes greatly benefit community

The health sector’s national target programmes between 2011-2015 helped raise public awareness of the importance of individual and community health care, curbing the number of patients and deaths caused by dangerous diseases and preventing epidemics, heard a conference in Hanoi on April 13.

Head of the Health Ministry's Planning and Finance Department Nguyen Nam Lien said the ministry was assigned four programmes targeting health care, ensuring food safety, population and family planning, and HIV/AIDS prevention.

Notably, the National Health Target Programme was implemented through five projects, with satisfactory results recorded in the project for preventing some dangerous diseases.

During the period, the health sector completed its goal to reduce the rate of people suffering from dengue fever to 18 percent of dengue cases for 100,000 people compared to 2006-2010, and keep the rate of dengue sufferers and deaths by the disease at under 0.09 percent.

Screening examinations and management for high-blood pressure patients was deployed in 1,179 communes and wards nationwide, benefiting over 2 million people. Over 365,000 people were found to be suffering from the disease and received advice from medical units.

The expanded vaccination project ensured over 90 percent of children under one year old were fully vaccinated , meanwhile the rate of children between 1-14 who received the measles-rubella vaccine reached 98.2 percent.

Efforts to eliminate polio and neonatal tetanus were also promoted.

Positive results were also recorded in the National Target Programme on Food Safety, with food safety management agencies formed from the central to local level.

Reports delivered at the conference showed that the National Target Programme on Population and Family Planning contributed to improving the quality of service delivery. The service was provided for people in 5,700 disadvantaged communes with high birth rates.

Meanwhile, the National Target Programme on HIV/AIDS Prevention helped control the rate of HIV/AIDS injections in the community at less than 0.3 percent. The network of medial establishments for preventing HIV/AIDS nationwide has been strengthened, and the budget of localities for the work increased nearly threefold compared to 2013, after a project on ensuring finance for the field was approved by the Prime Minister.

According to Lien, a health and population target programme will be implemented between 2016-2020 with eight projects – focusing on preventing some dangerous infectious diseases and some common non-contagious diseases, expanding vaccination campaigns, ensuring blood safety and preventing hematological pathologies, promoting medical and population communication, and enhancing links between army and civil medical establishments, among others.

The programme will run across the country, with the aim of mobilising resources and involvement of agencies, organisations and the people, and arranging communication campaigns, and disease control and training activities.

Health sector aims to reduce infectious disease death rate

The Ministry of Health has set a target to reduce the rate of deaths caused by dangerous infectious diseases in the 2016-20 period.

The target was announced by the ministry’s head of Planning and Finance Department, Nguyễn Nam Liên, at a conference yesterday.

The conference reviewed the national programme on healthcare and population in the 2011-15 period, and set targets for the next five years.

The national programme on healthcare and population for the 2016-20 period include eight major projects aimed at preventing and controlling dangerous infectious diseases. The projects include expanding vaccinations; population and development; food safety; HIV/AIDS prevention and control; safe blood and blood-related disease prevention and control; and media management on healthcare.

“The main aims of the programme are to prevent disease spread and epidemics, and to reduce the infection and mortality rates of some dangerous infectious diseases to ensure public health,” Liên told the conference.

“The programme will also engage in supervising food safety, as well as ensuring safe blood transfusions and preventing some blood-related diseases,” he said.

Over the next five years, the healthcare sector will also focus on reducing the HIV/AIDS infection ratio in the community, he added.

In terms of population issues, the healthcare sector will carry out measures to maintain a stable birthrate and increase population quality, as well as enhancing healthcare services to people in border and island areas, Liên affirmed.

By 2020, the national healthcare programme will be promoting information dissemination among health workers and people working in disease control.

Yesterday’s conference was a chance for the health ministry to review its work between 2011 and 2015. During this period, the ministry was assigned to carry out four national programmes covering public heath care, food safety, population and family planning, and HIV/AIDS prevention and control.

So far, the rate of dengue fever infection has dropped by 18 per cent and the mortality rate was lowered to under 0.09 per cent.

Also in this period, health checks for high blood pressure were implemented in nearly 1,200 communes nationwide. Through these activities, more than two million patients aged 40 or over were given a health check service.

The sector maintained the rate of 90 per cent of under one-year-old children being vaccinated.

The quality of population was enhanced thanks to the population and family planning project. Under the project, people in 5,700 communes that had a high birthrates were provided family planning services. The project also provided free contraceptives to people in remote and poor areas.

The healthcare sector maintained a ratio of HIV/AIDS infection of under 0.3 per cent of the total population. The system of HIV/AIDS prevention and control nationwide was also further strengthened. The budget for HIV/AIDS treatment has increased three times since 2013.

Speaking at the conference, Liên affirmed that, “The National Programme on Healthcare has made a positive change in people’s attitudes on personal and public healthcare.”

“People were aware of the importance of disease prevention in public, which helped to lower the rates of infection and mortality caused by dangerous diseases, as well as reduce the risk of disease outbreaks,” Liên said.

HCM City to open course on stroke treatment

With the support of the World Federation of Interventional and Therapeutic Neuroradiology (WFITN), the HCM City University of Medicine and Pharmacy will offer the training course “Updated diagnosis and treatment of cerebrovascular disease and stroke” from May 2-11.

Professors of radiology, interventional neuroradiology and neurosurgery from the US, Canada, France, South Africa and Thailand along with Vietnamese counterparts will give lectures and explain best practices during the course, the first of its kind in the country, said Dr Trần Chí Cường, president of the Interventional Neuroradiology Society of HCM City.

More than 200,000 people suffer from stroke in the country every year and the fatality rate of stroke remains high, Cường said.

The country has fewer than 10 hospitals that could provide emergency, intervention and treatment for strokes, he said.

Training and technical transfer for treatment of strokes at provincial hospitals is urgent, especially for the detection and treatment of patients with acute stroke.

The course will feature the latest knowledge and techniques in neuro-imaging diagnosis, ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke, neuro-vascular anatomy and pathology as well as updated guidelines on endovascular treatment for acute ischemic stroke.

New Year wishes sent to Khmer dignitaries, monks

A delegation of the Southwest Steering Committee and National Assembly deputies of the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang on April 14 sent greetings to Khmer people on their traditional New Year, Chol Chnam Thmay.

The delegation was led by deputy head of the Southwest Steering Committee Vo Minh Chien.

Visiting Prey Chop Temple in Lai Hoa commune, Vinh Chau town and Prek On Dok Pagoda in Thanh Phu commune, My Xuyen district, the delegation wished dignitaries and monks as well as the entire society of local Khmer people a happy traditional festival.

Deputy head of the Southwest Steering Committee Vo Minh Chien hoped that Khmer monks and state workers would work hard to inspire patriotism and national solidarity among local Khmer communities, contributing to ensuring security and economic development in the province.

Chol Chnam Thmay is one of the most important events of the year for the Khmer community. It usually lasts three days and is celebrated in pagodas.

More than 400,000 Khmer people in Soc Trang are marking this year’s festival, which falls on April 13-16, or the seventh to tenth day of the third lunar month.

Northwest provinces prepare for national tourism year

Northwest provinces held a press conference in Hanoi on April 14 within the framework of the ongoing Vietnam International Tourism Mart in order to promote tourism in the region.

The event was part of preparations for National Tourism Year, the most prestigious tourism event in the country, to be held in the region in 2017.

Ha Van Thang, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Lao Cai province, said that as the host of National Tourism Year, Lao Cai has coordinated with other regional localities to prepare, with the focus on developing typical tourist products of the northwest region.

The region has also looked to develop the tourism sector by trying to attract more investors and building infrastructure, Thang stated.

According to Thang, there will be 23 main events during the National Tourism Year 2017. A cultural, sport and tourism festival of northwest ethnic groups to be held in October this year will be the event’s curtain raiser.

The region will focus on eight typical tourism products, including community-based tourism, terraced rice fields, flower seasons and mountain trekking, Thang said.

The northwest region is home to more than 30 ethnic groups, a slew of tangible and intangible cultural heritages and famous historical sites and imposing landscapes.

Yet tourism accounts for a small part of the region's economy due to poor infrastructure, a lack of sophisticated products or professional tourism operators.

In 2015, the region received 8.9 million tourists, including 1.6 million foreign nationals, while the country received 7.94 million international arrivals, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The region has 12 areas earmarked for development under the national strategy on tourism development in the period through 2020, including the Dong Van Karst Plateau, Ban Gioc Falls, Mau Son Mountain, Ba Be Lake, Tan Trao, Dien Bien and Hoa Binh Reservoir.

Four national tourist attractions that feature in the strategy are Lao Cai city (Lao Cai province), Pac Po historical site (Cao Bang province), Lang Son city (Lang Son province), and Mai Chau district (Hoa Binh province).

The northwest region comprises eight provinces, namely Dien Bien, Ha Giang, Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Hoa Binh, Lai Chau, Son La and Phu Tho.

Zika prevention activities beefed up in prone localities

Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Thuan province are stepping up Zika virus prevention efforts as they are now highly susceptible to the mosquito-borne virus.

A woman in Thanh My Loi ward of HCM City’s District 2 was reported to be Zika-positive in early April. The southern municipality also announced Zika outbreak warnings at the communal and ward levels.

Under a recently-issued Zika prevention plan, HCM City will focus on minimising outbreak risks by spraying anti-mosquito chemicals at the District 2 Hospital where the Zika patient received check-ups and at her District 1 workplace.

It is also distributing leaflets and increasing radio broadcasts to raise awareness of the virus and mosquito prevention measures.

Schools across the city have been asked to enhance Zika prevention activities.

The municipal People’s Committee has also devised plans of action in case a Zika epidemic occurs.

Meanwhile, the central province of Binh Thuan has recorded more than 400 people contracting dengue fever, a disease caused by the same mosquito species that carries the Zika virus, since the beginning of 2016.

It is also a popular tourist destination, located on the way from HCM City to Khanh Hoa province, where another Zika case was detected.

In early April, the Ministry of Health’s Department of Preventive Medicine said an Australian tourist tested positive for Zika after returning from Vietnam. The tourist had visited Binh Thuan, among others.

The provincial Department of Health said communications have been strengthened and anti-mosquito and larvae substances have been sprayed at dengue fever hotbeds and tourism areas.

Samples of suspected Zika cases have also been taken, with all of them testing negative, according to the department.

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