High tide to cross danger levels in HCM City

High tide water levels in Ho Chi Minh City are forecast to reach level 1 and cross 1.35 meters early September, the city Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention warned in an urgent dispatch to affected districts and relevant departments August 30.
 
High tide waters are already beginning to surge in the lower sections of the Sai Gon-Dong Nai River since August 30 and are expected to cross 1.35 meters along the Phu An Station and 1.33 meters along the Nha Be Station by August 31. High tide will peak from 4:30pm to 6:30pm, according to the Southern Regional Hydro Meteorological Center.

The Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention has instructed districts to speed up measures to prevent flooding in highly prone areas of the city caused both by heavy rainfall and high tide. Adequate human resources should be available and appropriate equipment made ready for all worst case scenarios.

In related news, the National Hydro Meteorological Forecasting Center said that affects of Nanmadol Typhoon were felt in northern Vietnam on August 30, with weather conditions remaining hot and sultry. The storm has now moved northwards making a landfall along the coast of Fujian Province in China early this morning.

Average temperatures in the north hovered between 34 and 36 degrees Celsius. Some areas in Son La, Ha Giang, Cao Bang, Bac Kan and Quang Ninh Provinces experienced over 37 degrees Celsius.

All throughout August 31 muggy weather is forecast in the northern regions with average temperatures touching 36 degrees Celsius or even higher in some parts.

On the other hand, the southwesterly winds will cool temperatures in the southern and Central Highland provinces with scattered showers and thunderstorms in some parts.
 
Ovarian stimulation can have serious side-effects: doctors

Doctors have warned against the careless use of fertility drugs among women, which they said could lead to congenital malformation, premature birth, multiple pregnancy and even infertility.

The warning came after an increasing number of women were reported to have self-prescribed themselves with the medication.

Doctors at HCM City's Tu Du Hospital Infertility Ward said that ovarian stimulation medicine should be taken by women who were unable to conceive for at least two years, and must be prescribed by doctors.

Tran Hong Hanh, a pharmacy clerk in Ha Noi's Hoan Kiem District, said the medicine ranged from VND5,000 (US$0.24) a tablet to VND25,000 ($1.21).

It was often sold without a prescription, she said.

Every day, at least two or three women bought fertility medicine from her store, but a few years ago, it was practically unheard of, Hanh added.

A 34-year-old woman living in HCM City's Binh Thanh District who wished to remain anonymous said that she took fertility drugs after listening to advice from a colleague. After three months on the medication, she was suffering from a serious stomach ache, vomiting and bleeding.

Doctors said that her ovum follicle had broken.

Nguyen Hoang Tuan, a doctor at Tu Du Hospital, said about 60 per cent of women admitted to the hospital for infertility treatment had misused fertility drugs.

The medication should be taken in phases under the supervision of a doctor, but many women took it uninterruptedly for months or even years at a time, he said.

Doctor Hoang Thi Diem Tuyet, the hospital's deputy director said fertility drugs could be taken orally or intravenously, but women using the medication may face side-effects including over-stimulating the ovaries and multiple pregnancies.

"If a woman has a multiple pregnancy, she may develop high blood pressure and diabetes, and her children may be born prematurely," she said.

Women having trouble conceiving should go to a specialist hospital for proper consultancy and treatment, she added.

Olympiad winners, university students honored  
 
The Ministry of Education and Training and the Student Association held a ceremony yesterday to honor all students who won awards at the 2011 International Olympiad and also those students receiving the highest marks in university entrance examinations in Hanoi.
 
30 of the 37 students honored at the ceremony came first in the entrance examinations of universities and 7 won medals at the International Olympiad this year.

Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan expressed his pride in all the students, asking them to continue their efforts in studying and learning more advanced technologies and thereby serving their country.

The Deputy PM provided certificates of merit and awards worth VND5 million to each Olympiad winner and to students coming first in the university entrance examinations.

Suburban districts of Hanoi need more preschools  

Tran Duc Hoc, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Dong Da District in Hanoi has promised to find vacant land for construction of pre-schools, as four wards in the district have no nursery school and parents are becoming increasingly concerned for their children.

The Chairman stated this at a meeting yesterday with the Education Commission of the Hanoi City Party Committee.

Justifying the lack of daycare facilities in the district, Hoc said that earlier the government had set regulations for the local administration to ask for social contributions in building a pre-school and not to use the state budget for this purpose.

At that time, every household in the district was extremely impoverished and unable to contribute towards the building of educational institutes. Subsequently, the government handed out vacant land to enterprises on leasehold basis.

The Education law stipulates that each ward having a minimum population of 8,000-10,000 residents must have at least one pre-school or primary school, however now no vacant land is available for the purpose, Hoc added.

Hoc is now suggesting resolving the problem by proposing to the Hanoi People’s Committee to reclaim land leased out to manufacturers earlier.

In addition, Hanoi could also ask the Ministry of Defence, to return the 3,000 square meter land that has an existing school, built in 1991.

Lack of pre-schools in the suburban districts of Hanoi has caused grave concern amongst residents who have to transport their children to very far off schools daily.
 
Gov’t orders tight control of chemical substances  

The Vietnamese Government has ordered the Ministry of Public Security to work with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Industry and Trade to implement effective control of chemical and pharmaceutical substances within the country.  

The three ministries will be responsible for issuance of guidelines for use of chemicals and pharmaceutical substances which earlier illegal traders were selling indiscriminately.

The Ministry of Health will be responsible for controlling imports of pseudoephedrine HCL as imports of this precursor chemical have increased drastically since 2010.

The ministry will set up inter-department inspectors to supervise manufacturers and distributors of the chemical.

The Ministry of Health has also asked the Drug Administration of Vietnam to notify of those businesses that have undertaken the processing and manufacturing of pseudoephedrine HCL, which is an essential and basic ingredient in the preparation of cold and flu medicines.  

Imports of pseudoephedrine HCL chemical have skyrocketed of late. Currently 45 importers in Vietnam have permission to import the chemical, namely BV Pharma Joint Venture Company, Thai Nakorn Patana Pharmaceutical Company, Pharbaco Central Pharmaceutical Joint- Stock Company and the OPV Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company.

Cho Ray Hospital launches US-standard pharmacy   
 
Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City on Aug. 30 launched a new pharmacy department which meets the US Federal Standard No. 209E and ISO 14644-1.

The department was built at a cost of over 1 billion VND (48,500 USD) in cooperation with the US Baxter Pharmaceutical Group.

According to the hospital’s Director Dr. Nguyen Truong Son, the project will help the hospital to standardise the practical process of preparing drugs in a bacteria-free environment, which protected staff and reduced treatment costs for patients.

A representative of Baxter said the group was coordinating with the hospital to build a standard process based on the United States Pharmacopeia and Good Pharmacy Practice (GPP).
 
2 million foreign tourists visit Ho Chi Minh City  

Ho Chi Minh City has welcomed more than 260,000 international visitors in August, a year-on-year increase of 10 percent, according to the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
 
The number of tourists arriving into the city by air is around 210,000, an increase of 10 percent compared to the same period last year.

Additionally, the total number of international visitors to the city in the first eight months of the year is 2.12 million, up 10 percent against last year. These figures have already touched 60 percent of the target figure for this year’s tourism plan.

Although this time of the year is off season, the occupancy rate in hotels is approximately 70-80 per cent. The city tourism sector expects to welcome about 3.5 million tourists in 2011.

Officials remain undecided about how to deal with unfinished wells

Officials in central Ha Tinh Province's Thanh Loc Commune remain undecided about how to deal with safety issues surrounding seven incomplete wells.

The open wells have claimed the lives of five local residents but Le Van Nhieu of the commune's People's Committee said they might wait until they receive instructions from the provincial authorities because solutions are too costly and it would be too wasteful to fill the wells in".

Ten wells were dug 10 years ago at a cost of nearly VND1 billion (then US$70,000) to provide clean water to over 5,000 residents who suffered water shortages due to frequent droughts, said Nhieu.

However, only three were put into operation with the remaining seven left incomplete and redundant, lacking design features such as pumping systems and barriers.

After five people drowned in the open wells, residents have asked the administration to fill them in for good which would cost an estimated VND210 million ($10,000).

"How can an agricultural commune like ours afford to fill in the wells?" asked Nhieu.

"It would be more useful to cover them for future use, but that would cost money too."

Support from the provincial People's Committee was vital, he said.

Ha Tinh-based Phuong Lan Co Ltd was selected as the project contractor 10 years ago. Records show that the contractor committed to finishing the project within six months of starting in June 2003 but they failed to do so, he said.

"We have continually tried to find out the name of the company's director to ask why the company suddenly fled when the project was in progress," Nhieu said.

Two weeks ago, a provincial team inspected the wells but did not make any promises about dealing with mitigating the risk issues. Instead, they said poor co-operation between local authorities and the investor, as well as the carelessness of residents, should be blamed for the deaths.

Ten businesses sued for social insurance

The Ha Noi Social Insurance Agency has filed lawsuits against 10 businesses who owe their workers' social insurance fees.

The businesses are located in seven districts of Long Bien, Tu Liem, Hoan Kiem, Dong Da, Hai Ba Trung, Cau Giay and Ba Dinh.

The violators, mainly in garment and textile, building construction and mechanics businesses, failed to make the mandatory payments for more than 12 months, said deputy director of the agency Truong Trong Thang.

Although many of them made a profit, they still intentionally ignored their social insurance fees.

"The question affects the legitimate rights of workers," Thang said.

However, the agency has difficulties in completing files to sue businesses due to the fact that owners of businesses often avoid inspectors and ask their assistants to sign records. The city People's Procuracy said that fine records signed by assistants were not legal.

Statistics show that the total amount owed from social and health insurance fees was up to VND543 billion (US$26 million) in June.

There were 88 businesses which owed more than VND1 billion ($48,700) in the city by June.

Under the current regulation, businesses that owe social insurance fees will face a maximum fine of VND30 million ($1,460).

Recently, the agencies sued nine businesses for owing social and health insurance fees and withdrew nearly VND4 billion ($195,000).

Industrial relations bodies to be set up in Ha Noi, HCM City

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs are working with departments and agencies to establish industrial relations committees in Ha Noi and HCM City.

The committees would offer advice to municipal People's Committees on policies and measures to develop sound and stable industrial relations, said Nguyen Van Xe, deputy director of HCM City's Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

Under management of the National Industrial Relations Commission, the committee would not directly deal with labour disputes, said Xe, who spoke during a workshop on the operation of industrial committees held on Tuesday in HCM City.

The establishment of the committee is necessary as the city is facing a risk in the increase of labour disputes.

The department said the committee should consist of leaders of the municipal People's Committees, departments of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, the Labour Federation, the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority.

A total of 132 cases of labour disputes involving 132,000 workers occurred in the city between December 2010 and July 2011, according to a report released by the municipal People's Committee.

PV