Pink-eye spreads throughout northern region

Kindergarten and primary schools in northern provinces have been hit by an outbreak of pink-eye disease (conjunctivitis).

Dien Bien Phu City Health Centre in Dien Bien Province reported more than 350 infections last week.

Le Trong Canh, director of the Dien Bien Preventive Medicine Centre, said that the disease spread quickly in kindergartens and primary schools because students share face-clothes and wash-basins. One student could spread the ailment to an entire class.

Le added that conjunctivitis was also an airborne disease, complicating containment efforts.

Yen Bai Province reported an outbreak on September 3. Since then, more than 3,300 people have been affected in the province.

Significant outbreaks have also been reported in other northern provinces.

In Tuyen Quang Province, 1,500 patients sought treatment last week. In Ninh Binh Province, there was a 30 per cent increase in the disease. And in Bac Ninh Province, about 2,500 cases were reported in the past two weeks.

Health departments in Bac Ninh, Ha Noi, Lao Cai and Ninh Binh have given residents and schools tips on how to prevent the spread of disease.

Director of the Ha Noi health department, Nguyen Khac Hien, asked schools to improve hygiene in kitchens, bathrooms and with classroom toys.

He said students suspected of having the disease should be isolated.

Deputy director of the Ninh Binh Eye Hospital, To Thi Hoa, advised residents to wash their hands with soap and use Natri Clorid 0.9 per cent eye-drops.

The Yen Bai Preventive Medicine Centre held training courses on conjunctivitis prevention and control for 40 commune health workers in affected areas.

Action slows on citizens' complaints

Failure to do anything about formal complaints and denunciations has upset many people, said Government Chief Inspector, Huynh Phong Tranh.

On the Sunday television programme People Ask - Minister Answers, Tranh claimed it took time to get to the bottom of things. However, he said that when decisions were made, they would be quickly implemented.

Tranh said that in recent years, many local authorities had become increasingly effective at resolving citizens' complaints and denunciations, yet there were still some lagging behind.

Tranh cited a specific case in which the Government solved a denunciation and instructed local authorities to make reparations, but local authorities were reluctant to follow orders.

He also admitted that some cases had been awaiting resolution for more than 30 years. In response to one HCM City incident in 1998, he said the authorised agency that received the denunciation should be investigatede.

Tranh said regulations stipulated that leaders of State management agencies must devote at least one day a month receiving complaints and denunciations from citizens.

Additionally, authorised agencies that showed irresponsible and discriminatory behavior in handling citizens' denouncements would face penalties.

He advised citizens to make sure denouncements were sent to the right address. Tranh added that some people mistakenly believed that cases would be solved more quickly if complaints were sent to higher-level agencies.

If a denouncement is sent to the wrong agency, the agency must transfer the denouncement to the appropriate agency and inform the complainant. An agency can refuse to receive a complainant only if the case is out of their jurisdiction.

Healthcare seems better to patients after fee rise

Many hospital patients appear happy with improvements to their medical services following a 20 per cent raise in healthcare costs.

A recent Government decision increased fees for 1,350 different services at public hospitals and clinics.

Numbers of patients seeking treatment have not declined since the August 10 fee increase, said Nguyen Dinh Hung, the deputy director of Ha Noi-based Saint Paul hospital whose 85 per cent of patients have insurance. Most patients questioned in the hospital said they had to pay more now for healthcare services.

Of course, the uninsured notice the increases more than the insured, but many said they accepted the rise in hospital fees because the cost of other necessities, such as fuel and food, had also risen.

"Improvements have been made in health examination procedures," Hung said.

Mirroring Hung's statement, most patients or patients' relatives said the fee increase had resulted in higher quality medical services.

Saint Paul Hospital's facilities had vastly improved, said Phung Van Tung, 70, from Hoai Duc District, who was treated for diabetes.

Nguyen Van Thanh, 60, from Phu Xuyen District, approved of the facilities at Ha Dong General Hospital, where his veteran brother was treated. Thanh said health procedures were more efficient since the rise, but he was dissatisfied with the behavior of some medical workers.

"Some nurses seem impatient with patients and sometimes they do not explain the procedures clearly to us, causing us to run from here to there," he said.

The rise in fees greatly affected patients who did not have health insurance, he said.

"The patient in the sick-bed next to my brother does not have insurance and he must pay VND300,000 (US$14) a day for the bed. He complained that the fee is as much as his salary for two working days as a builder," Thanh said.

Generally, employers buy health insurance for their workers, but the unemployed or partially employed must pay for their own. The head of Ha Dong General Hospital's planning department, Nguyen Thi Cuong, said: "We encourage them to buy health insurance because the social health insurance company will pay 70 per cent of the hospital fees if they are admitted to a hospital where their insurance cards are registered," she said.

The Government has also encouraged people to purchase health insurance, aiming to reach the national health insurance programme's goal of 80 per cent insured by 2020, according to Decision No 538/QD-TTg.

Manh Cam case trial to begin tomorrow

The Ha Noi People's Court will begin tomorrow afternoon the trial involving the Manh Cam Company Ltd, a goat's milk product importer, and the city's Market Watch.

A representative of the company will be required to participate as the plaintiff in the legal proceedings.

According to the company, on February, 2013, the Market Control Sub-department No12 under the city's Market Watch seized 6,000 Danlait milk boxes from the company to test for product quality.

The Viet Nam Food Administration under the Ministry of Health confirmed that the products met quality standards. The milk's quality had been certified by the health ministries of both Viet Nam and France.

The administration also said that all the boxes were imported in cans from France and distributed exclusively in Viet Nam.

Previously, suspicions had been expressed on online forums that the company had manufactured food supplements abroad, and had sold them at high prices as baby formula in Viet Nam.

The company was fined VND15 million (US$707) for labelling the products as baby formula instead of a food supplement.

The products that had been seized were spoiled after they were kept in improper preservation conditions for four months. In July 2013, the company decided to sue Vuong Tri Dung, deputy head of the Market Watch, for issuing instructions that caused losses to the company and brought it on the verge of bankruptcy.

The estimated losses of the company were roughly VND26 billion ($1.2 million).

Last month, the municipal People's Court summoned the defendant for trial, but the process was delayed by a month due to the absence of Dung.

Moves made to preserve ancient ethnic languages

Over the past three years, the Central Highlands provinces have been implementing measures to preserve spoken and written ethnic minority languages.

The Central Highlands comprise the five provinces of Lam Dong, Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Dak Nong and Kon Tum with a population of 6.5 million. Forty-five percent of the population is made up of ethnic minorities, including the Ba Na, Gia Rai, E De, and Se Dang ethnic groups.

According to the region's Steering Committee, 1.4 million students registered for the 2014-15 academic year, with 461,000 students belonging to ethnic minority groups. On average, the number of ethnic minority students increases by 10 percent each year.

Kon Tum and Gia Lai provinces added Ba Na and Gia Rai languages to the curriculum for 3rd-5th graders at 121 primary schools. E De is now taught at 92 primary schools and 13 high schools in Dak Lak province.

Students have also benefited from free textbooks and documents in their mother tongues.

Additionally, ethnic minority language courses have been offered for officials and civil servants to improve their communications with locals.

The Central Highlands provinces also worked with ministries and research institutions to publish E De-Vietnamese and Ba Na-Vietnamese dictionaries and bilingual books that were distributed to local communities.

At present, Kon Tum and Lam Dong provinces are designing textbooks in Se Dang and Chu Ru to expand the coverage of these languages.

Joining the regions' efforts, Voice of Vietnam radio now broadcasts news in Ba Na, E De, Gia Rai, Mo Nong, Co Ho, and Se Dang - the region's predominant ethnic minority languages.

Each month, the Vietnam News Agency provides 18,300 free copies of the pictorial Dan toc&Mien nui (Nationalities and Mountainous Region), written in Ba Na, E De, Gia Rai, Co Ho and Mo Nong, to schools and villages throughout the Central Highlands.

Campaign to educate older men

Population Services International in Viet Nam and the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC launched a communication campaign yesterday that aims to reduce demand for rhino horn among middle-aged men.

The campaign, entitled Strength of Chi (Will), states that success, masculinity and good luck flow from an individual's internal strength of character – not a piece of rhino horn.

It will target urban men aged between 35-50 in Ha Noi and HCM City through integrated channels, including outdoor, in-store and digital billboards, mobile messaging and testimonials through mass media.

Toy library helps improve language

A Toy Library, packed full of colourful wooden toys that teach children about color and spatial perception, opened recently at Tam Binh Children Welfare and Protection Centre in HCM City's Thu Duc District.

The toys also help children with fine motor coordination and language, according to the Worldwide Orphans Foundation (WWO), an international NGO.

Sponsored by HSBC Viet Nam, the Toy Library is part of the centre's programme, the Comprehensive Care for Orphan, Children and Adolescents with Disability and Special Needs.

It is based on a model developed in the US during the Great Depression and in Scandinavia in the 1960s for children with special needs.

Vietnam to test cancer-causing ingredient in Colgate toothpaste

Following the warning of cancer-causing ingredient in Colgate Total toothpaste of , Vietnam is going to test the content of Triclosan in the toothpaste to protect consumers’ safety.

The Drug Administration of Vietnam under the Ministry of Health ordered the National Institute of Drug Quality Control to take samples for testing. Deputy head of the Drug Administration of Vietnam Nguyen Tat Dat said that Triclosan are relatively used in foodstuff and cosmetic.

Producers regularly add Triclosan, an antibacterial agent, into fluoride toothpaste and liquid hand and body soaps as an Antibacterial agent. Asian countries, EU nations and the US health watchdogs allow to add Triclosan in cosmetic with limitable content.

So far Vietnamese health authorities have not received any warning of the chemical and its unsafe use in toothpaste and cosmetic in the market. Colgate-Palmolive Co.’s Total has announced that Triclosan in its toothpaste has been safe for consumers and the chemical only cause harm when people consume it in a large quantity.

Vietnam to take part in WRO 2014

The Vietnamese team of secondary school students will take part in the 11th international World Robot Olympiad final (WRO 2014) in the Olympic city of Sochi, in Russia’s Moscow from November 21-23.

Candidates are Nguyen Vy Minh Duy and Nguyen Quang Duy Anh of Hong Bang Secondary School; and Chau Chan Thien, Ngo Trung Quoc and Le Long Thinh of Chu Van An Secondary School in Ho Chi Minh City.

They won highest prizes at Ho Chi Minh City Robotacon Competition 2014 for students aged 13 and under, and 13-16 which took place on September 20-21.

Vietnam team for the first time participated in the 10th international World Robot Olympiad final in Indonesia's Jakarta last year (WRO 2013).

Manhunt for accused child abuser

Nghe An provincial police are searching for a local man accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old disabled boy.

On September 21, Colonel Mai Chien Thang, deputy head of the police force in Vinh City, said they were searching for a man named Nguyen Thanh Son, 42, for charges of kidnapping and child abuse.

The victim in this case, a 14-year-old boy named Tu, is being treated at Nghe An General Hospital. "He's been mute since birth and has severe injuries all over the body, even in the private parts. He is still traumatised after the incident, and his parents have to hold him down whenever we give him shots or clean his wounds," a nurse said.

Nguyen Van Viet, head of Spine and Neurosurgery Faculty, said that doctors have not been able to determine with any certainty whether Tu was raped. "He was panicked and reacted very badly when we tried to check. The fact that he was calm when we treated other parts of the body leads us to believe there is high probability that sexual abuse occurred," he said.

According to Tran Thi Giang, Tu's mother, Nguyen Thanh Son was their neighbour and close acquaintance. Son had even expressed interest in adopting Tu. In mid August, they agreed to let Tu go on a trip with Son but later they were unable contact their son.

Son allegedly took Tu to a hotel where he kept him captive and abused the boy. On September 15, Son locked the door and left, only to call the hotel the next day to ask if Tu's family had been there to pick him up. When the hotel receptionist checked the room, Tu was lying on the floor.

Tu's parents said that later they received a message from Son admitting that he beaten Tu and asking for forgiveness. His mother said, "We borrowed VND7 million (USD333) from neighbours and relatives but Tu's treatment has gone over five days now. I don't know where to find the money to cover continued treatment for his injuries."

Vietnam Days in the Netherlands 2014 to open in late September

'Vietnam Days in the Netherlands 2014' will be held in The Hague and Amsterdam between August 23-26 including a series of politic, economic and cultural activities to boost multifaceted co-operation between the two countries.

The event, jointly held by the Vietnam Ministry of Foreign Affairs in co-ordination with relevant ministries and sectors, will include exhibitions, art performances, seminars and field surveys, with the participation from both Vietnamese and Dutch enterprises and localities.

The opening night of art performances will take place at Lucent Danstheater on September 23 with the attendance of Dutch Government officials and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Mininster Hoang Trung Hai.

A Vietnamese business delegation to the Netherlands will also have a chance to take field trips to FloraHolland flower auction centre and Wageningen greenhouse horticulture.

Particularly, a Vietnam-Holland economic co-operation forum will be held on September 24 in The Hague, taking about various fields such as trade, investment, science and technology, agriculture and energy, among others.

The four-day event will also bring Dutch people into a Vietnamese space through exhibitions on the country and people of Vietnam, Vietnamese cuisine, publications on Vietnamese economy, culture and tourism.

The Mekong Delta aims for training over 7,000 doctors and 3,000 pharmacists by 2020 in a bid to meet the demand for the health care service in the area, said the Southwestern Steering Committee.

The Can Tho University of Medicine and Pharmacy has opened additional six post-graduate majors in the 2014-15 academic year.

The university is now home to more than 1,000 postgraduates in different majors, Rector Pham Van Linh said, adding that it has adjusted training methods, strengthened scientific research activities, organised symposiums to share local and international experience to ensure the quality of graduates.

In 2013 and 2014, the university provided training for over 2,830 post-graduates, close to 1,800 of them have graduated.

Meanwhile, Mien Tay School in Can Tho city also offered more training services.

In a similar move, Can Tho Medical Colledge targeted to train more than 600 students in the 2014-15 academic year while enhancing cooperation with international educational institutions from Japan, Australia, Hungary and Ireland.

Director of the Can Tho City Department of Health, Bui Thi Le Phi said the city attaches importance to developing a contingent of high-quality health workers to meet the increasing need of the community.

The locality also encourages the involvement of different sectors in the work, she added.-

Hanoi cuts down on plastic bags

Retailers and residents in Hanoi are ditching plastic in favour of eco-friendly bags, according to the city's Department of Natural Resources and the Environment.

Nguyen Thi Kim Thanh, director of the Hanoi Environment Protection Fund, said several campaigns had been carried out to increase the public's awareness of the impact of plastic bags on the environment.

Households, traditional markets, supermarkets and shopping centres were encouraged to use environmentally-friendly bags, the production of which would receive considerable policy support, she said.

Other activities run by the fund include bicycle rides, idea competitions for plastic bag reduction measures, a ‘No Plastic Bag' Sunday festival, and rubbish collections in a number of districts and wards throughout the city.

Additionally, the city is considering levying a tax on plastic bags, creating incentives for the promotion and production of eco-friendly bags.

According to a five-year survey conducted by the Environment Protection Fund, supermarkets, shopping centres and traditional markets are starting to use polypropylene-fiber bags and paper bags rather than plastic.

So far, the fund has raised VND1.2 billion (US$57,100), offering 90,000 environmentally-friendly bags to residents for free.

A 2009 Action Plan aims to reduce the use of plastic bags in Vietnam as part of the country's efforts to protect the environment.

According to the plan, by 2020 the number of plastic bags used in supermarkets and shopping centres is to be reduced by 60% compared to 2010, and by 50% in traditional markets.

The plan also aims to collect and recycle 50% of plastic bags thrown away by 2020.

Hydro-environment engineering discussed at Hanoi conference

Vietnam is well-positioned to apply advances in environmental and hydrological engineering, Rector of the Water Resources University Nguyen Quang Kim said during the 19th Asian-Pacific International Conference on Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research in Hanoi on September 22.

He added that there were plenty of opportunities to cooperate on research and training in the region.

In his opening remark, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat urged Asian-Pacific countries to address climate change, saying that this region was most likely to suffer from the impacts.

This required countries to develop comprehensive response plans, Phat told domestic and international scientists from 22 countries.

Prof. Arthur Mynette, Vice President of the International Association for Hydrology, Environmental Engineering and Research, said the Netherlands was experienced in climate change mitigation and adaptation and was willing to share its expertise, especially with countries that share its geographical features, such as Vietnam’s extensive coastline and flood plains.

Waste reduction campaign to be launched

The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment is kicking off the national campaign “Take action for a waste-free environment” in the northern province of Thai Nguyen on September 24, in response to the global campaign “Clean up the world”.

The campaign aims to increase the public’s awareness of environmental protection, pollution and waste, in a bid to contribute to global environmental efforts.

The ministry calls upon local authorities, organisations, enterprises and individuals all over the country to protect the environment and take practical actions, including reducing, reusing and recycling waste; limiting plastic bag use; planting trees and cleaning up residential areas.

Vietnam has been part of the global campaign since 1994.

Losses caused by environment pollution in Vietnam account for 5.5 percent of country’s GDP, and pollution-related health care costs the country US$780 million every year.

Experience in developed countries shows that economic development that disregards environmental issues is less economically efficient. It costs more to solve environmental problems when they emerge than to prevent the negative impact in the first place.

Launched in Australia in 1993, “Clean up the world” is a community-based, environmental campaign that inspires and empowers communities around the world to clean, restore and protect their environment. The campaign is celebrated on the 3 rd weekend in September each year by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). It has mobilised millions of volunteers in over 130 countries worldwide.

“Miss Vietnam in Czech” organisers support AO victims

The organising board of the “Miss Vietnam of the Czech Republic Open for Europe 2014” contest has kicked off a fund-raising campaign for victims of Agent Orange/dioxin in Vietnam.

The campaign was launched at a ceremony in Praha on September 21 to announce those who will compete in the final round of the pageant.

At the event, President of the Development Worldwide association (DWW) Daniel Svoboda - one of the contest’s sponsors – handed over 5,000 USD raised in the US to the board in order to help clean up herbicides left by the war in A Luoi district, the central province of Thua Thien Hue.

The biennial pageant is sponsored by the Vietnamese Embassy in the Czech Republic. This year marks the 4th time the event has been held by the Vietnamese Association in the country and Vietmedia company.

Experts discuss climate change

With around 75% of Vietnam's urban population living in low elevation coastal zones, many people will be affected by rising sea levels, experts have warned.

Marginalised groups in urban areas, such as the poor, women, children, and the elderly are particularly sensitive to the stress of climate change, Nguyen Quang, manager of the UN-Habitat Programme in Vietnam, said.

"Climate-related disasters will compound the difficulties that migrants face in urban areas in Vietnam due to poor access to urban services," he told a two-day regional workshop concluded on September 18 in Ho Chi Minh City.

Besides the economic costs, climate change also had a direct effect on key urban infrastructure, including transportation, water supply, and energy, and exacerbates urbanisation problems, he said.

Between 1990 and 2009 the country ranked fifth world-wide in terms of impact of climate-related disasters, averaging 457 fatalities and GDP losses of US$1.9 billion per year.

Climate threats and natural disasters will likely spark an additional migration of people to cities, he warned.

In Ho Chi Minh City, damage caused by natural disasters in the last decade is estimated at US$12.6 million.

The city is among the top 10 globally in terms of exposed population. The majority of the poor in the city live along canals and drainage ditches and areas susceptible to flooding.

By the end of this century temperatures in southern Vietnam, including Ho Chi Minh City, will increase by 1.4 - 2.6 Celsius and rainfall by 1 - 1.9%, Le Ngoc Tuan of the city Department of Science and Technology said.

Sea levels are expected to rise by 75-100cm by 2100, he said.

With a rise of 12cm by 2020 and 17cm by 2030, Can Gio district will be the worst affected area, followed by Binh Chanh and Cu Chi districts, he added.

An average rise of 0.5cm per year will endanger 60% of Ho Chi Minh City by 2050.

Bao Thanh, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Institute of Meteorology, Hydrology and Climate Change, said around 35% of the Mekong Delta's population, over 9% in the Red River delta, around 9% in the central coast, and 7% in Ho Chi Minh City will be directly affected.

A National Strategy of Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation was approved in 2011, he said.

The urgent tasks to be completed between 2011 and 2015 included developing a master plan for socio-economic development in the Mekong River Delta that factors in climate change, upgrading coastal and river dykes, and keeping out saltwater from vulnerable areas that have an impact on food security, he said.

Quang said, "There is a need for a legal framework for strategic and participatory urban planning in Vietnam, with a focus on marginalised and vulnerable groups in urban areas."

Integration of climate change issues into appraisal of land-use planning and the housing construction regulatory framework was also vital, he said.

The country should promote private investment in energy efficiency, renewable energy, clean development mechanisms, he added.

Nearly 50 Vietnamese and foreign officials and experts in urban development and climate change attended the workshop titled "Urbanisation and global environmental change - Southeast Asia" and organised under the aegis of the Urbanisation and Global Environmental Change (UGEC) project.

Can Tho pushes for reintegration of ex-convicts

A conference was held in the Mekong Delta province of Can Tho on September 22 on measures for reintegrating ex-convicts into society.

Le Van Tam, Vice Chairman of the Can Tho city People’s Committee, called for more attention from the community to the rehabilitated offenders, helping them reintegrate into society.

He also requested the quality of vocational training courses be improved and bank loan incentives be provided for them.

The conference revealed that most individuals managed to get their lives back on track entirely due to their own efforts. Examples include Vo Van Luyen, who earns his living by rearing bats and turtles, and Tran Trung Toan, who is furthering his education in the field of medicine.

Only 5.57 percent of ex-convicts can access loans from banks and credit agencies.

According to Nguyen Minh Kha, Director of the city’s Police Department, out of 5,282 prisoners ending their sentences, 74 percent managed to secure jobs, while 26 percent remain unemployed and are at risk of engaging in criminal activities.

A number of reasons cause this high rate of unemployment, including low levels of education, social isolation and a lack of start-up capital.

In 2014, the number of reconvictions so far accounted for 13.6 percent of newly admitted inmates.

Khmer community thrive in An Giang Province

Khmer villages in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang have got a major facelift thanks to a series of investment made by the provincial authorities during recent years.

The province has allocated more than 44 billion VND (2.095 million USD) in 2014 to implement numerous policies supporting Khmer community, from paying tuition fees for Khmer students to providing loans and land for housing and farming to the needy.

Taking into account the fact that local Khmer people live mainly on farming, the province has held a number of vocational training courses and invited experts to advise farmers on suitable farming techniques, thus helping increase their income.

Many Khmer households have become better off, earning hundreds of millions of VND from new farming models such as intercropping. One example is the family of Chau Chen in Co To commune, Tri Ton district, who earn nearly 500 million VND in profit from cultivating rice and side crops in their four ha of land.

An Giang is home to over 110,000 Khmer people, living mainly in the five communes of Tri Ton, Tinh Bien, Chau Thanh, Chau Phu and Thoai Son.

VNN/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/ND