New laser treatment ensures clear vision

The first ten patients have received laser eye surgery using an innovative method to correct shortsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism, Dr Phạm Hồng Thái, head of HCM City’s Eye Hospital’s Refraction Department has said.

Dr Mai said that SmartSurfACE was an innovative laser treatment that corrects shortsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism without touching or cutting the cornea of patients’ eyes, ensuring safety, reducing complications, and providing better vision.

During surgery, the machine emits a laser which shines straight into patients’ eyes. The surgery takes a very short time – just one to two minutes. Recovery time is also very short, at one week.

One of the advantages of the method is that patients with thin corneas could be eligible for the treatment, she said.

The cost for the surgery ranges between VNĐ19-21 million (US$836-924) for two eyes with refractive values below eight degrees.

Currently, there are three popular methods of eye laser treatment, including Smile, Femto Lasik and Lasik.

According to Dr Trần Hải Yến, senior consultant of High-tech Eye Centre of the Hospital 30-4, among the three methods, the cost of Lasik at between VNĐ10-12 million ($440-528) per eye is the lowest, but poses risks of complications during and after surgery.

Femto Lasik is safer, but still contains potential corneal flap complications after surgery due to post-surgery injuries. The cost of this surgery is about VNĐ20-22 million ($880-968) per eye.

Smile is considered the safest method. Patients will not find any corneal flap complications during and after surgery. The cost of this surgery is VNĐ35-37 million ($1,540-1,628) per eye.

HCM City seeks bigger revenue share

HCM City continues to seek permission from the National Assembly Standing Committee to retain a bigger share of its revenues and pile up more debts.

Speaking at a meeting with the committee on Monday, the chairman of the city People’s Committee, Nguyễn Thành Phong, complained that a recent Government draft decree on financing-budget policies for HCM City has not gone far enough with respect to the city’s long-standing demands.

“The Government should allow HCM City a special mechanism to collect revenues befitting a mega city, such as tariffs on certain industries and services,” Tuổi Trẻ (Youth) newspaper quoted him as saying.

City Party Secretary Đinh La Thăng said, “The Government should allow HCM City the highest level of autonomy for us to collect more revenues and contribute more to the nation.”

He sought permission to increase the city’s debt from the current 60 per cent of its revenues to 90 per cent, but deputy chairman of the National Assembly, Phùng Quốc Hiển, agreed to increase it to 70 per cent.

The figure however has to be ratified by the committee.

Hiển said, “HCM City’s demand to collect more tariffs will be considered by the Government and submitted to the National Assembly.”

National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân admitted that HCM City is the country’s leading economic hub and needs to keep a greater share of its revenues.

Lê Thị Nga, chairwoman of the National Assembly’s Justice Committee, said under the law the Government can allow HCM City a special financial mechanism in proportion with its potential.

Nguyễn Đức Hải, chairman of the National Assembly’s Budget and Finance Committee, concurred with HCM City about its need for greater financial autonomy.

“The city should have more autonomy in choosing and paying its staff.”

Nguyễn Thị Quyết Tâm, chairwoman of the city People’s Council, urged the Standing Committee to work out a resolution to give the city greater financial autonomy and submit to the National Assembly.

Driver, assistant stuck in cabin after truck overturns

A driver of a container truck and his assistant were rescued from inside the cabin after their truck overturned at Lò Xo Pass in Kon Tum Province.

The accident occurred last night at Lò Xo Pass on Hồ Chí Minh Highway in Đăk Glei District of the Highlands Province of Kon Tum.

When the truck overturned, the driver, 46-year-old Nguyễn Văn Sang, and his assistant, Phạm Hữu Phước, aged 30, got stuck in the driver’s cabin, the local police said.

After one hour of being administered first aid while they were still inside the cabin, the two were finally taken out and hospitalised at the district’s medical centre.

According to the local traffic police, Lò Xo Pass is a dangerous section with many zigzag slopes.

The police said many accidents occurred at this section.

Saigon to bid farewell to 100-year-old flower market

A number of wholesale and retail markets in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City, including its biggest wholesale flower market, Ho Thi Ky, may be relocated to the outskirts of the southern metropolis as officials search for solutions to worsening congestion, pollution and food safety.

The plan was officially submitted to the city’s government on February 21, said Tran Thuy Lien, head of the management board of Binh Dien Wholesale Market.

The markets on the list include two flower markets, a fish market and a fruit and vegetable market all located in the inner city.

Lien urged the city’s government to speed up the relocation process to ensure a level playing field for markets that will be moved from the city center.

Ho Thi Ky, the city’s biggest wholesale and retail fresh flower market, is so busy that it causes public disorder and chronic traffic congestion, Lien said.

Any delays to the planned relocation of Ho Thi Ky Flower Market will hold back Ho Chi Minh City's development, Lien said.

“If it was a 100-year-old heritage site, we should carefully consider the relocation, but this market is not worth that much consideration,” said Lien.

Ho Thi Ky Flower Market currently has more than 100 stalls, mostly run by small businesses.

A US$31-million flower market in Binh Dien Market is scheduled to open this year.

With investment from the Saigon Trading Group, the market will source flowers from Da Lat in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong.

HCM City Party chief greets RoK locality’s official

Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Dinh La Thang lauded the efforts of Gyeongsangbuk-do province of the Republic of Korea (RoK) to co-organise the International Cultural Festival 2017 in HCM City late this year. 

Meeting with visiting governor of the province Kim Kwan Yong in HCM City on February 21, Thang stated that municipal authorities and sectors will coordinate with the RoK locality to organise the festival. 

Informing the guest of HCM City’s investment and business climate, he affirmed that the city attaches importance to creating favourable conditions for foreign firms to invest in the city. 

About 20,000 RoK enterprises are investing in HCM City, significantly contributing to the locality’s development and promoting Vietnam-RoK ties, Thang said. 

Kim Kwan Yong, for his part, said his country and Vietnam have similarities in history and culture which are the foundation for the two countries’ localities to foster cultural exchange and mutual understanding. 

He pledged that agencies of the Gyeongsangbuk-do province will work closely with HCM City to ensure the success of the festival. 

On the same day, the two localities held a ceremony to debut the co-organisation board of the festival, which will take place from November 9 to December 3.

In September last year, officials of HCM City, Gyeongsangbuk-do province and Gyeongju city signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the event.

As part of activities to mark the 25th founding anniversary of Vietnam-RoK diplomatic ties, the festival will include a series of activities such as art performances, cuisine displays, fashion shows, film screenings and trade promotion activities.

Quang Ninh strengthens border inspection given China’s H7N9 outbreak

The northern province of Quang Ninh is intensifying measures to prevent A/H7N9 avian flu from entering through border gates as it shares about 118km border line with China, which is tackling a new A/H7N9 outbreak. 

Deputy Director of the provincial Health Department Nguyen Tien Hung said on February 21 that the most important task at present is using temperature measuring machines and spraying chemical disinfection at the gates.

Any infections found must be quarantined and even not allowed to enter the locality (in case of foreign visitors), he added.

Vietnam has so far recorded no infections of human A/H7N9 avian flu, however, the country is promoting efforts to prevent the entry of the virus, which caused a new outbreak in neighbouring China.

According to the Preventive Medicine Department under the Ministry of Public Health, the long borderline shared with China and busy cross-border trade activities between the two countries pose a high risk of H7N9 virus to be transmitted into Vietnam.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said that China has reported 340 human A/H7N9 avian flu cases in 13 provinces and cities nationwide so far this year. Almost the infected cases had a history of exposure to live poultry in markets or areas polluted by infected poultry. 

The number of human A/H7N9 cases have continually increased in China since October last year, causing the fifth outbreak in the country since 2013, the WHO reported. 

To proactively prevent the disease, the Vietnamese Ministry of Health recommended people to not use poultry or poultry products with unknown origins, and ensure food hygiene. 

They were told to immediately notify local authorities and veterinary units if they detected any sick or dead poultry. 

People should visit doctors to be counselled, examined and receive treatment if they have flu-like symptoms, such as fever, cough, chest pain or breathing difficulty, the ministry said.

Hanoi announces top six ideas for solving traffic congestion

The top six ideas for solving Hanoi's chronic traffic problems have been announced by authorities in the capital.

Six teams have made it through to the first round of the competition, which will award a US$200,000 prize to the winner, said Ngo Manh Tuan, deputy head of the city’s transport department.

The city plans to hold a press conference to officially introduce the six finalists selected from more than 200 applicants, Tuan said.

The candidates have been invited to submit further information on their solutions for the next round of evaluation over the next three months.

The department launched the competition in mid-January to ask for solutions from members of the public to solve its serious congestion problems.

The department asked contestants to focus on ideas involving underground parking spaces, intelligent transportation systems and ways to control private vehicles in a city dominated by motorcycles.

Statistics show that Hanoi has more than 5.5 million personal vehicles, including nearly 500,000 cars and more than five million motorcycles, and an average of over 19,000 new vehicles are registered each month. The numbers are expected to increase to more than 7.3 million motorbikes and 1.3 million cars by 2025.

VFF official receives Chinese guest

The Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee will do its utmost to maintain and promote the friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and China, a front official has said. 

VFF Vice President Bui Thi Thanh made the affirmation during a meeting with visiting Vice President of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)’s chapter in Shanghai city Xu Yibo in Hanoi on February 21. 

While expressing her joy at great achievements made by the two countries and the fruitful development of the bilateral relations, Thanh stressed that the two sides were active in implementing the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation between the VFF and the CPPCC in 2014-2019. 

Through friendship visits, the two sides informed each other of socio-economic development in their countries, she noted. 

She expected that the traditional friendship and the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two nations will be stronger in the future. 

For his part, Xu Yibo suggested the two sides build a long-term plan to enhance cultural exchange between the two nations, thus strengthening the bilateral ties. 

The VFF’s supervision experience will be a suggestion for the CPPCC to effectively implement its democracy supervision task in 2017, Xu said.

NA deputies discuss investment support for Mekong Delta

The National Assembly Standing Committee debated the allocation of the central budget to implement the national target programme on building new-style rural areas in the Mekong Delta region between 2016-2020, at its 7th session in Hanoi on February 21.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Van Thang presented the government’s report which said the Ministries of Construction; Transport; Education and Training; Culture, Sports and Tourism, found that the Mekong Delta needs a higher sum of investment for infrastructure building than other regions due to its complicated geology and scarcity of construction materials.

The government suggested the NA Standing Committee add 1,244 communes, including 544 extremely disadvantaged communes, in 12 Mekong Delta provinces into the list of localities receiving the central budget’s support.

The NA Committee for Finance and Budget said it is essential to increase investment for the Mekong Delta to address its geographical difficulties, ensure food security, and boost economic growth. 

NA Vice Chairman Phung Quoc Hien said the NA Standing Committee agreed with the government’s proposal, but the clarification of beneficiary communes and the necessary investment amount is needed.

He asked the NA Committee for Finance and Budget to coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the Ministry of Planning and Investment to clear up these issues before submitting to the NA Standing Committee for further consideration.

World Bank helps improve life quality in Can Tho city

The World Bank (WB) will sponsor 500,000 USD for Can Tho city to carry out the “Green-clean-beauty programme”, part of a project upgrading the Mekong Delta urban region.

The information was released by Tran Minh Phat, Deputy Director of Can Tho city’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) Project Management Board, in a working session with Can Tho People’s Committee and relevant departments on the programme.

According to Phat, the programme is part of component 4 of the project on upgrading the Mekong Delta urban area that is being implemented in four districts of Can Tho city, namely O Mon, Ninh Kieu, Cai Rang and Binh Thuy.

The programme, which has a budget from 300,000 to 500,000 USD, aims to establish an environment that improves the health and lives of locals.

The programme is calling for organisations and individuals to propose initiatives on four themes: “environmental sanitisation,” “urban beautification and sustainable use of construction works,” “school cleaning” and “green trees.”

Selected initiatives will receive sponsorship ranging from 20 million VND (897 USD) and 200 million VND (9,000 USD).

Vice Chairman of the Can Tho People’s Committee Vo Thi Hong Anh assigned the Department of Construction to work with the city’s ODA Project Management Board to disseminate information about the programme in the community.

She asked relevant units to complete the selection and start implementing initiatives by June 2017.

According to Anh, that programme is expected to improve the health and living conditions of local people.

Vietnam helps Cambodia build military school

The Royal Cambodian Army (RCA) and Vietnam’s defence attache office in Cambodia held a ceremony on February 21 opening a lecture hall and commencing the construction of an accommodation building for students of the Techo Military Engineering School in Kampong province.

This is one of practical activities marking the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam-Cambodia diplomatic relationship in 2017.

Speaking at the ceremony, Marshal Pol Saroeun, Commander-in-Chief of the RCA, and officials of the school expressed their deep gratitude to the Party, State, Army and Vietnamese people for assisting the construction of the school and many other facilities for the RCA, bringing in new faces and help training staff for the RCA.

He stressed that with the unconditional help of the Vietnamese People’s Army, the RCA has become more modern and stronger and completed all missions, and affirmed the school was the most specific evidence of the time-honoured friendship, solidarity, traditional relationship between the army and people of the two countries.

The lecture hall and the accommodation building belong to the project on building the Techo Military Engineering School funded by the Vietnamese Ministry of Defence with a total cost of 1 million USD.

Commencing in 2010, the school has become the RCA’s first training facility meeting conditions to train high-level military officers for the RCA in general and the Military Engineering Command in particular.

Peace Trees Vietnam hailed for healing war wounds

Secretary General of the Vietnam-US Society (VUS) under the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO) Vu Xuan Hong has hailed Peace Trees Vietnam (PTV)’s contributions to healing the war wounds, fostering trust and friendship between the two peoples. 

During a reception in Hanoi on February 21 for PTV President Jerilyn C. Brusseau, Hong emphasised that Vietnam and the US have scored important achievements in their ties over the past years. 

He believed that with PTV’s significant and humanitarian contributions, Vietnam will continue rallying support of international friends in dealing with the war consequences, thereby soothing the pain and losses suffered by many poor Vietnamese. 

Brusseau, for her part, said the visit has brought her and her entourage an insight into Vietnam, its culture and people. 

She expressed wish to strengthen ties with VUFO, including the VUS, in order to boost the friendship between the two peoples as well as increase humanitarian programmes as part of the post-war recovery efforts in Vietnam.

Doctors warn mothers on use of donated breast milk

Vietnamese women who are unable to breast-feed their children for health reasons are increasingly using donated breast milk from other women, sparking warnings from physicians.

Some mothers cannot breast-feed their children for various reasons, including the use of antibiotics taken after delivery.

Lê Huyền Trang, a woman from Tân Bình District, has set up a free “breast milk fridge” promoted on Facebook. Donors and recipients of breast milk can post their requests and information.

Every day, Trang receives between 60 and 80 breast milk bags with 250ml of milk from donors.

However, after reading media reports about the practice, Dr Trương Hữu Khanh, head of Paediatrics Hospital 1’s infectious and nervous diseases ward, said: “It’s impossible to do this. It’s not like giving free rice or bread. Frozen breast milk from mothers should be used for their child only.”

Safety of a “breast milk bank” should be ensured, just as it is for a blood bank, Khanh said.

“It’s not sufficient to listen to donors who say they are healthy and have no disease.  They must be tested for safety reasons,” he said.

Khanh said that opening and closing a fridge could also cause bacterial contamination.

At a press meeting on Monday, nutritionist Hoàng Thị Tín of Paediatrics Hospital 1 said that breast milk from other mothers should not be encouraged.

Babies could be at a high risk of getting an infectious disease, Tín said.

Unfrozen breast milk must be used within two hours, she said, adding that milk bottles should be stored in the middle of a fridge’s freezer.

Frozen milk at minus 70 degrees Celsius could be stored for around a year, she said.

Từ Dũ Obtetrics Hospital recommends breast feeding as a preferable source of nutrition for infants instead of formula milk.

For premature babies with a digestive disorder or born with low weight, breast milk can be vitally important.

These newborns, however, are usually kept in a special room at hospitals away from the mother and most of them are fed formula milk, which can cause digestive problems.

But doctors at Từ Dũ Obtetrics Hospital said breast milk could be contaminated with HIV, hepatitis B or C viruses. Patients with these diseases often do not have symptoms in the early stages of the disease and, as a result, affected mothers could pass along contaminated breast milk.

Moreover, techniques and devices for milk are sometimes not clean and storage is improper.

It is important to control the quality of donated breast milk by keeping it under surveillance by health experts and sterilising it, according to the American Academy of Paediatrics.

Mothers eligible to donate breast milk are tested to detect infectious diseases, and they should not smoke, drink wine or take any medicine that could affect the quality of the milk. They are also given instructions to ensure that the milk is not contaminated.

Donated milk is tested twice and is sterilised at a very high temperature.

Milk that tests negative for bacteria or viruses is stored in a fridge for later use.

HCM City to restart National Highway No 50 project

The HCM City’s People Committee has assigned the Department of Transport to manage and conduct research on and manage the planned expansion of a section of National Highway No 50.

The 8km section is located in the city’s Bình Chánh District and links to Long An and Tiền Giang provinces.

The highway will be widened from two to four lanes during the first phase of the project and to six lanes in the second phase.

In 2010, the Ministry of Transport decided to expand National Highway No 50 in HCM City and Long An and Tiền Giang provinces.

The expansion was completed in Long An and Tiền Giang the following year, but was not implemented in HCM City because of slow progress in land clearance compensation in Bình Chánh District.

The Ministry of Transport has transferred the management of the road expansion to HCM City.

Hospital offers free exams for patients with urethral disorders

Bình Dân Hospital this week began free health examinations and consultations for patients with urethral stricture, a condition caused by infections or accidents.

The free examinations and consultations will end on March 3.

Patients with the condition have difficulty urinating or have pain when urinating.

If the condition, which is more common among males than females, is not treated in a timely fashion, it could easily re-occur and become more difficult to treat later.

Each week, the hospital performs surgery on four or five patients with the condition.

If left untreated, it can cause sudden retention of urine, a dangerous condition because it could affect the function of the patient’s kidney and bladder.

The consequences of the condition can be kidney and urologic stones or male infertility.

The hospital will also provide free services every Monday from late February to March 27 for patients with overactive bladders, a condition which affects bladder-storage function, causing a sudden urge to urinate.

Patients with the condition can wake up two or more times at night to urinate.

The free health programme was organised to improve public awareness of the disorders.

Airport mechanic dies in jet bridge accident

A member of airport technical staff died when repairing a jet bridge at Đà Nẵng International Airport on Monday.

The information was confirmed by Trần Phước Hương, head of Đà Nẵng City’s Hải Châu District Police. The victim was Võ Hồng Duy, 29, from Quảng Nam Province.

The accident happened when Duy was repairing jet bridge number 16 at the airport. No planes were reported to have been in operation at the time of the accident.

The cause of the accident is being investigated.

Railway traffic resumes after train-truck collision

North-South railway traffic resumed this morning after an almost 21-hour halt following an accident that occurred in central Thừa Thiên-Huế Province.

Train SE2 travelling from HCM City to Hà Nội late yesterday afternoon collided with a truck that was attempting to go across the railway track in the province’s Phú Lộc District. The collision killed three, including two travelling on the truck and the train’s deputy manager, and injured four others.

Eleven cars of the train derailed, with some falling on the railway line and blocking traffic. Some 1,000 passengers on other trains were transported at night by road to the Huế and Đà Nẵng railway stations to continue their journey to Hà Nội and HCM City, respectively.

Trần Hoán, a railway manager at the Bình Trị Thiên railway management unit, said his taskforce team had worked hard continuously for almost 20 hours and succeeded in removing the train’s locomotive and five cars from the railway track.

Swift repair on 100m of damaged rail facilitated safe travel of the train, SE1, which travels from north to south and goes through Thừa Thiên-Huế according to the morning schedule.

The national traffic safety committee and local authorities this morning, meanwhile, paid condolence visits to the victims’ families, including two local families, while family members of the train’s deputy manager travelled from Hà Nội to Huế to collect his body.

According to the investigation, the truck was crossing the railway track, despite signals that a train was approaching.

Clean-up and repair work continues at the accident site. The Ministry of Transport has ordered a thorough investigation of roadway and railway intersections in the province following the accident.

HCM City doctors hold music fund-raising show

A music show Hát Cho Yêu Thương (Singing for Compassion) to celebrate Vietnamese Physicians’ Day (February 27) will be held at Bến Thành on Saturday (February 25).

The show will feature professional singers and artists as well as physicians and medical officials in the city, said Dr Huỳnh Thanh Hiển of the HCM City Psychiatric Hospital, one of the show’s organisers. 

The two-hour show, directed by Tôn Thất Toàn, will air on HTV1 at 10pm.

The performers include popular singers Tuấn Hiệp, Trang Nhung and Đông Hùng, and musician Vũ Quốc Việt.

The event aims to raise donations for a charity programme called Dĩa Cơm Trên Tường (Rice Plate on the Wall) that provides free meals to poor patients and their caregivers at eight hospitals in the city.

Audiences can book tickets in advance for free at the programme’s Facebook fanpage diacomtrentuong.

Since its inception in April 2015, more than 30,000 free meals have been given to poor patients.

Every week, a total of 1,386 meals worth VNĐ25,000 (US$1.1) each are served to poor patients.

Long An appoint new acting chairman

Nguyễn Môn has been appointed acting chairman of V.League 1 side Long An to replace Võ Thành Nhiệm, the club announced yesterday.

Môn is a shareholder of the club and director of Thuận Đạo industrial zone in Long An Province.

Nhiệm resigned after his club displayed unsporting behaviour in the match between Long An and HCM City on February 19.

Long An’s coach Ngô Quang Sang and captain Huỳnh Quang Thanh have also been dismissed. Managing director Huỳnh Ngọc San was asked to resign.

According to a source, Long An will invite 63-year-old coach Henrique Calisto of Portugal to train the team.

Calisto was involved with Long An during their national premier league wins in 2005 and 2006. Calisto also helped Việt Nam national men’s football team take the title at the AFF Cup in 2008.

Deputy PM Dam urges for revamping school physical education

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam has stressed the need to further promote physical education and sporting in schools, saying that it is an important part of the textbook innovation programme.

Deputy PM Dam held a working session yesterday with leaders from the Ministries of Education and Training and Culture, Sports and Tourism on physical education and sporting in schools.

Reports at the meeting showed that in recent years, physical education and sporting in schools has not been commensurate with its role and position. The fitness of Vietnamese students is still limited compared with other countries, in addition there is a lack of essential skills, healthcare, and prevention of accidents and injuries.

As of 2016, there were over 95% of schools nationwide implementing formal physical education, 75% of schools hold extracurricular physical activities, drawing the participation of 71% of the total 14.9 million secondary school students.

However, the activities are still basic only, not focusing on skills training and making sports exercising a habit of the majority students. Meanwhile, there is also a shortage in facilities and training staff serving school physical and sporting activities, only 6.3% of schools have training or sports halls, 0.4% have swimming pools and 15% have training grounds.

Participants at the meeting discussed shortcomings and solutions to innovate physical education in schools, stressing the need to focus on renovating course content; reviewing and strengthening the teaching staff’s capacity and strengthening investment in facilities and equipment.

Deputy PM Dam said that education is comprehensive; adding that in addition to the innovation of textbooks, learning and teaching programmes; physical education must have an adequate position. The way to teach, learn and implement physical and sporting activities in schools should be changed towards encouraging students’ excitement, said the government official.

Investment for physical education facilities should be flexible, not just focusing on constructing professional projects, he suggested, adding that contests in physical education need to be changed towards happy and healthy purposes. Physical education work must be regarded as the work of the whole society, he stressed.

He urged relevant authorities to raise the capacity of key trainers in schools, while mobilising social resources for the work and setting-up sports movement in schools across the nation.

20 students in central province suffer glomerulonephritis

The Department of Health in the central province of Nghe An yesterday reported to its provincial People’s Committee and the Ministry of Health that 20 students have glomerulonephritis including two succumbing to the illness. 

As per the report, from April 11, 2016 to February 21, 2017, 17 junior high school students and three primary students in Que Phong District suffered glomerulonephritis, a type of kidney inflammation. Two of them had died of the disease.

Students were hospitalized with symptoms of color cola-colored urine and frequent urination yet less urine. Of 20 students, 17 were discharged from infirmary, 2 were transferred to the National Children Hospital in Hanoi and died, one was treated in the province Children Hospital.  

After discovering the cases, the health authority set up mission team to take samples for tests. As per initial study, the disease is caused by streptococcus, not exception of toxic food and chemicals.

The local Department of Preventive Medicine took samples of eating and drinking from the houses of the two dead students and food sold nearby diseased students’ schools. On the other hand, local health authority proposed health experts from the Ministry to verify the cause of the illness.

Bird flu spreads to five provinces in Vietnam

The Department of Animal Health under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development yesterday said that five provinces have bird flu.

The southern provinces of Soc Trang, Dong Nai and the northern province of Nam Dinh have reported cases in bird flu bringing the number of provinces with the disease to five including the Mekong delta province of Bac Lieu and the central province of Quang Ngai.

On the same day, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Vu Van Tam sent the urgent dispatch to cities and provinces nationwide ordering to spray disinfectants for the first phase because outbreaks of bird flu and diseases on animal have re-occurred threatening people’s health. 

The activity plays a vital role in preventing the spreading of disease amongst animals and on human. As plan, local health authorities will spray chemicals in residential quarter, farms, poultry markets and slaughterhouses.

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