Red Journey 2015 receives 20,000 blood units

Blood donation day, part of the Red Journey 2015 took place at National Convention Center in Ha Noi on July 25. On this occasion, Red Journey 2015 blood donation campagin was concluded.

It targets to receive 2,000 units of blood (250ml each) from donors as if the event launched many activities. And “I love Vietnam” program drew over 3,000 volunteers and donors.

The Red Journey 2015 toured to 21 localities and cooperated with local authorities to mobilize a transnational campaign to raise awareness about donating blood. The organization board organized 21 galas, 3 talks and collected 17,937 blood units.

It is expected to receive 20,000 blood units after July 25. Especialy, Red Journey 2015 visited Ly Son Island District of the central province of Quang Ngai and supported to build “Blood bank”, aiming to supply blood source to serve health sector in the island district.

The Red Journey 2015 was introduced in Ho Chi Minh City on July 3 by the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion.

Over 20 million Vietnamese people infecting with hepatitis B, C

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced at the the meeting held in Hanoi yesterday to mark the World Hepatitis Day ( on July 28) that over 20 million Vietnamese people infected with hepatitis B and C.

As per WHO's statistics, Vietnam is one of nine nations in the Southeast Asia having the most rate of hepatitis. The rate of hepatitis B accounts for 10 percent of the whole country's population, even some districts having up to 20 percent and the rate of hepatitis C is ranging from 2 percent to 6 percent of the population.

Accordingly, the country has more than 20 million people infected with hepatitis B and C and 8 million are living with hepatitis, cirrhosis and liver cancer.  Liver cancer causes 22,000 deaths every year.
As a result, Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long asked related agencies in the health sector to well implement the program to prevent and fight against the liver virus for the period 2015-2019 issued by the Ministry.

In addition, related agencies must increase information to raise people's awareness of the danger of hepatitis virus and the way of transmitting as well as preventing the virus and taking care of people living with hepatitis B and C.

Additional 126 heroic mothers honoured in Ho Chi Minh City

Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Le Thanh Hai ( right) bestows the State title of Heroic Vietnamese Mother to Duong Thi Tinh (centre) yesterday in HCM City. The State title was presented yesterday to 126 women for the sacrifices thay have made safeguarding the nation on the occasion of the 68th War Invalids and Martyrs Day (July 27). — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Vu

The State title of “Heroic Vietnamese Mothers” was presented to 126 women for their sacrifices to the national safeguarding cause at a ceremony held in Ho Chi Minh City on July 26 to mark the 68 th War Invalids and Martyrs Day (July 27).

Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Le Thanh Hai expressed his profound gratitude for the mothers’ great contributions to the struggle for national liberation, adding that each Vietnamese citizen continually bears in mind the sacrifices of the mothers, martyrs and veterans.

Over the past years, Ho Chi Minh City and the nation as a whole have actively implemented measures to care for heroic mothers, whose husbands and children died fighting for national independence and freedom.

The city is home to 4,433 heroic mothers, only 120 of whom are still alive.

On July 25, the noble title was also awarded to 64 women in District 12, Hoc Mon district and Cu Chi district in the city.

Vietnam, Laos seize 5.5 metric tonnes of drugs in largest-ever raid

A Vietnamese border soldiers unit and competent agencies in neighboring Laos have cracked down on the biggest drug trafficking cartel so far, led by a Thai national.

Senior Lieutenant Colonel Vo Trong Hai, chief of the Border Soldiers unit in the central province of Ha Tinh, on July 25 confirmed that his unit and relevant agencies in Laos had seized over 5.5 metric tonnes of drugs from a ring in that country.

After learning of the cartel illegally stockpiling, transporting and trading in drugs in Paksane District, located in the Laotian province of Bolikhamsai, the Vietnamese unit immediately worked closely with Laotian police on a case file called 466Lv, he added.

At 4:00 pm on July 23, a joint task force raided a resident’s home in Paksane and apprehended 11 people along with 3.5 metric tonnes of drug precursors and two metric tonnes of dried marijuana.

“This is the largest seizure that the Ha Tinh border soldiers unit and Laotian police have jointly made so far,” Senior Lieutenant Colonel Hai stressed.

During investigation, Lamphunxilaxa, a 47-year-old Thai national, pleaded guilty to heading the ring.

After stockpiling drugs in Paksane, the group sneaked loads into neighboring countries, including Vietnam.

Under Article 194 of the Vietnamese Penal Code, twenty years of imprisonment, life imprisonment or capital punishment can be given to those who are convicted of illegally stockpiling, transporting, trading in or appropriating heroin or cocaine weighing one hundred grams or more.

The same penalties are given to those who commit the crimes in one of the following circumstances: opium resin, marijuana resin or coca plasma weighing five kilograms or more; marijuana leaves, flowers, fruit or coca leaves weighing 75 kilograms or more; dried poppy fruit weighing 600 kilograms or more; fresh poppy fruit weighing 150 kilograms or more; other narcotic substances in solid form weighing 300 grams or more or in liquid form measuring 750 milliliters or more.

Dengue fever cases increase in Hanoi

The capital city of Hanoi has been increasing its efforts to prevent the spread of dengue fever.

Head of the Preventive Healthcare Department Dr Tran Dac Phu said 362 cases of dengue fever have been reported in the city since early this year, three times more than in the same period last year, with most of the cases reported in the districts of Ha Dong, Hai Ba Trung and Thanh Tri.

The municipal authority has asked localities and relevant offices to cooperate with the health care sector to take measures to prevent the spread of the disease, such as cleaning the living environment, spraying mosquito repellents, and asking people to use mosquito nets while sleeping.

The health care sector should closely monitor the situation for quick detection of infections.

In Ha Dong District, where the epidemic is spreading, the local authority and people have been taking preventive action. The disease is reportedly under control.

However, local health care workers said the risk of a new wave of the disease is still high.

The main reason for the situation is the low awareness of the people about the epidemic, Vu Van Len, a doctor, said.

PM attends war memorial stele erecting ceremony

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on July 26 attended a ceremony to erect a memorial stele at a war relic site, which used to house the headquarters of armed forces of Rach Gia province (now known as Kien Giang province) during the anti-US resistance war from 1967-1969.

During the period, the headquarters directed Rach Gia armed forces and people to victories in many battles. However, the place also witnessed the sacrifice of a lot of soldiers and locals in the struggle for national liberation and reunification.

Notably, on April 16, 1969, the revolutionary base was hit by fierce US bombings, which killed many officers and soldiers, including the father of PM Nguyen Tan Dung, Nguyen Tan Thu.

The erection of the stele is part of upgrades being done to the relic site with the aim of honouring fallen martyrs and heroes, and promoting national pride among young generations.

Work on the site is expected to be complete in December this year.

Son La implements ethnic minority policies

The northern mountainous province of Son La disbursed nearly 90 billion VND (4.12 million USD) in the first six months to invest in projects assisting ethnic minorities.

In 2015, Son La received 50 billion VND (2.29 million USD) from the State budget to invest in 20 settlement projects constructing roads, clean water systems and schools.

In addition, the Government also provided 34.54 billion VND (1.58 million USD) directly to the community in the form of seedlings, animals, fertilisers, animal medications and pesticides.

As directed by policies on housing, land, farming land and clean water for daily use, Son La helped ethnic minorities build clean water systems and buy farming implements and machines with a total value of 18 billion VND (82,000 USD).

The province also assisted 2,948 dignitaries in ethnic minority communities with 4.26 billion VND (195,000 USD).

Besides economic policies, ethnic minority communities received 1.4 million copies of newspapers and magazines free of charge in the first six months of the year.

Obstetrics - paediatrics hospital inaugurated in Bac Ninh

A new Obstetrics-paediatrics hospital with 200 beds was inaugurated in northern Bac Ninh province on July 25.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony, Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien hailed the facility as the best approach to reduce patient overload in centrally-run hospitals and provide high-quality medical services for patients from the province and the vicinity.

She also urged the provincial health sector to improve the management capability, and the quality as well as the quantity of the human resources to ensure better services.

The facility, covering nearly 14.500 sq. m. in Dai Phuc ward, Bac Ninh city, has a total investment of 364 billion VND (17 million USD) funded by government bonds and the local budget.

With a staff of nearly 300 people, including 82 doctors, the facility is ready for receiving patients as from July 26.

Hai Duong to supply clean water to all rural residents

The northern province of Hai Duong is striving to have 99 percent of its rural population access hygienic water by the end of this year.

Of which, 65 percent will use water meeting Ministry of Health standards of 60 litres per capita per day; 93 percent will have sanitary toilets; and 76 percent will use hygienic breeding facilities.

Local authorities also aim to provide hygienic water to 100 percent of local schools and medical stations.

To achieve the targets, the locality plans to expand and improve the existing water supply systems.

Campaigns to raise public awareness of environmental sanitation will also be organised while poor households will be supported in building biogas systems to treat waste from breeding activities.

As many as 98.6 percent of rural residents in Hai Duong currently have access to hygienic water, 75 percent of which use water meeting Ministry of Health standards and 92.3 percent have sanitary toilets.

About 99.1 percent of schools and 99.5 percent of medical stations use clean water.

Singapore explains why many Vietnamese women have been denied entry

Singapore's immigration authority confirmed that it has gotten tougher with Vietnamese tourists, especially women, after many of them were found violating local laws when entering the country during their stay there.

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority of Singapore, or ICA, was responding to the Vietnamese Embassy's request for an explanation, following reports that many Vietnamese women were denied entry to the country recently without clear reasons, Vietnam News Agency reported on July 23.

Many Vietnamese women, for instance, were found using different passports when entering Singapore, ICA was quoted as saying.

When being interviewed, many Vietnamese without English competency failed to explain why they wanted to enter Singapore, the agency said. ICA officials would not allow these people to enter, even if they had never violated laws before,

The policy is similar for people from Thailand and some other ASEAN countries, ICA said.

Nguyen Cong Huan, an official with the embassy, said in the news report that his agency will continue working with the Singapore authority in defining which cases should be categorized suspicious and illegible for entry.

He also promised to ask ICA to have "appropriate measures" so that their scrutiny will not cause trouble to other Vietnamese visitors who comply with Singaporean laws.

In the meantime, speaking to Thanh Nien, Brenda Tham, spokeswoman of ICA, said whether a Vietnamese tourist was allowed to enter Singapore based on "many factors." Tham, however, did not clarify which factors.

Earlier this week, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam also asked the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to help it seek clarifications from related agencies in Singapore about the crisis, which reportedly caused huge losses to many airlines.

One airline told Thanh Nien that it lost 45,000-50,000 SGD (US$32,900-36,500) a month to pay charges and surcharges for its passengers who were not allowed to enter the country.

The fees included 17 SGD the carrier was supposed to pay for every hour a passenger was kept in ICA's custody, according to the airline's representative, adding that they paid an average of 350-360 SGD for a passenger before the passenger was allowed to fly back to Vietnam.

Since arrival carriers were obliged to bring their passengers back to Vietnam, many would suffer losses if the passengers booked their return flights with another airline.

A former aviation official told Thanh Nien most passengers who were denied entries refused to pay back the related costs to airlines.

Some did not leave Singapore right after being denied, and chose to stay at the airport for days, forcing airlines to pay thousands of dollars for their "custody" fees, he said.

The former official explained that ICA did not want to force the passengers to board their flights because they were not criminals.

Vietnam veteran gives free treatment for the poor for 20 years

A veteran in Ho Chi Minh City has devoted his life to providing free treatment for poor people coming from across Vietnam during the past 20 years.

Vo Van Tam, aka Hai Tam, receives more than ten patients at his home in the outlying district of Hoc Mon every day.

The 53-year-old, with 30 years of experience in medicine, will provide very cheap, or even free, illness treatment to these poor people.

If Tam has to collect treatment fee, he will reluctantly charge patients very little, as he still needs finances to afford medicines, at a time when his health and budget is losing.

The veteran returned from the southwest border defense war with four bullets left in his body.

Still, free treatment is always available for poor patients.

Hai Tam said as a soldier, he always wants to contribute to serve his nation, as being able to return home from the war is a big fortune.

“Many of my comrades’ tears and bloods fell behind me,” he said.

“I’m even luckier as the whole family supports what I am doing,” he added.

Many neighbors and his old patients have volunteered to help him with giving treatment to patients, in appreciation of his golden heart.

Blood donor campaign ends on a positive note in Ha Noi

Over three thousand volunteers donated more than 2,600 units of blood during the final stage of the Red Journey blood drive in Ha Noi on Saturday.

The campaign has been through 22 provinces and cities since the beginning of July.

"The journey has gone far beyond our expectation. It has drawn the health sector and society together," said the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion's director, Nguyen Anh Tri.

During the journey, 120 volunteers travelled through 22 provinces and cities nationwide to collect blood and promote blood donations and raise community awareness of thalassaemia – a genetic blood disorder that can lead to heart failure and liver problems.

"I just passed the national high school exam this month. Many donors have given me the strength to help me realise my dreams," said Nguyen The Thai Son, a thalassemia patient who has needed blood transfusions all of his life.

This year, the drive visited Ly Son Island in Quang Ngai Province to help locals build a blood bank.

Last year, the health sector collected more than 1 million units of blood, 90 per cent of which came from voluntary donors, while 10 per cent was collected from people who sold their blood for money.

The sector has set a target to collect 1.1 million units of blood from voluntary donors in 2015, accounting for 60 per cent of the country's demand.