Health ministry checks anti-dengue efforts around country

The Ministry of Health is inspecting preventive methods against dengue fever in 16 provinces and cities that have seen an upward trend of the disease. 

The Ministry of Health is inspecting the preventive efforts in place against dengue fever in 16 provinces and cities where the disease is seeing an upward trend.

According to Đặng Quang Tấn, deputy head of the ministry’s General Department of Preventive Medicine, the incidence of dengue in these provinces and cities has increased in the last three weeks.

In Hà Nội, for instance, the number of cases doubled to 26 on July 23-29 from a week earlier.

Bình Phước Province has reported 1,055 cases this year, an increase of 27 per cent.   

According to Nguyễn Văn Dũng, deputy head of the province’s Preventive Health Centre, the average temperature of 25-30 degrees Celsius there is ideal for mosquitoes, the disease vector, to breed.

Moreover, locals have a habit of using clay pots and plastic barrels to store water, but often not covering or cleaning them, leading to mosquitoes laying eggs in them.

So far this year nearly 35,000 people in the country have been infected with dengue, with one each dying in HCM City and the eight provinces of Khánh Hòa, Bình Dương, Bình Phước, An Giang, Đồng Nai, Bình Định, Trà Vinh, and Cà Mau. 

The ministry has provided insecticides and other materials required to combat the disease to all provinces and cities, especially the 16 where its incidence is increasing.

It has also called on local administrations to strengthen preventive efforts and encourage people to practise hygiene and destroy mosquito larvae regularly.

The preventive medicine department has warned that the only way is to kill mosquitoes and larvae to prevent mosquitoes from biting people since there is no cure for dengue or vaccine.

The ministry has instructed local preventive health officials to keep an eye out to detect signs of outbreaks early.

Hospitals that admit dengue patients should report to preventive health centres so that they can take the initiative to monitor patients’ communities.

Tấn said people with high fever during the day should go to the nearest health facility for timely treatment.

Dengue is a viral disease transmitted by female mosquitoes, mainly of the species Aedes aegypti and, to a lesser extent, Ae. albopictus.

This mosquito also transmits chikungunya, yellow fever and Zika.

Dengue is widespread throughout the tropics, with local variations in risk influenced by rainfall, temperatures and unplanned rapid urbanisation.

In Việt Nam, unlike in the past dengue occurs throughout the year, with large outbreaks occurring during the rainy season.

Smart city control centre opens on Phú Quốc Island

Phú Quốc Island in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Kiên Giang aims to become a smart city by 2020. 

A smart city control centre that opened on Phú Quốc Island on Wednesday will receive residents’complaints and coordinate emergency functions, among other functions.

Phạm Văn Nghiệp, deputy chairman of the People’s Committee of Phú Quốc District, said the centre would receive information from citizens, visitors and organisations about theft, security problems and other complaints; improve traffic safety, and co-ordinate emergency responses and other activities.

Việt Nam Post and Telecommunications (VNPT) has helped the island build a safe city solution with mobile apps that help people report incidents (accidents, theft, acts that violate urban security) to management agencies and help the latter respond quickly.

The residents must install the “Safe City” app on their smartphone.

The VNĐ67 billion (US$2.9 million) project, invested in by VNPT under the smart city project for Phú Quốc by 2020, was approved by the Kiên Giang Province People’s Committee in April last year.

The project was based on VNPT’s information communications technology infrastructure and the province’s e-governance system.

Phú Quốc authorities have also completed a public wi-fi system that provides free access in Dương Đông and An Thới towns.

As many as 50 camera monitors also link with the smart city control centre in Phú Quốc Island.

For online management of visitors, VNPT has trained over 90 police officers and workers at 200 guesthouses and hotels on the island.

Hotels no longer need to take guests’ passports to the local police station for registration.

To monitor the environment, VNPT and local authorities have built stations to supervise household wastewater treatment, and air and seawater pollution.

The e-government system links administration from the commune to the provincial level, which helps people and enterprises in the district complete procedures online for licences or business registration.

Phú Quốc in the Mekong Delta, Bắc Vân Phong in central Khánh Hòa Province, and Vân Đồn in northern Quảng Ninh Province are expected to become special administrative-economic units.

Phú Quốc is Việt Nam’s largest island, covering an area of nearly 600 square kilometers with a population of over 100,000. 

Điện Biên children risk lives fishing for wood

Children risk their lives collecting wood after heavy flooding. 

Children living near Nậm Mức stream in Búng Giắt Village in the northern mountainous province of Điện Biên are risking their lives collecting wood from the swiftly-flowing floodwaters.

A Vietnam News Agency reporter observed a group of ten children (the oldest of about 13) took advantage of high water to jump into the stream and catch wood floating by.

Torrential rain over recent weeks has caused landslides and increased water levels in streams and rivers of northern mountainous provinces. One of the children told the reporter that each time it rains heavily, children around the area head to the stream and collect wood to sell.

If they are not quick enough to grab the wood, others will take it. So each time they see a promising log or branch, they swim as hard as they can in the flood water to grab hold of it.

Lò Văn Dôm, a local from the Mường Mươn Commune of Mường Chà District said that parents have warned children about the risk involved but the children have so far ignored their pleas.

In spite of efforts by local authorities to remind residents about the risk of wading into floodwaters, many families are still not aware of protecting themselves and their children.

Last year the province recorded several deaths caused by catching wood and fish in dangerous flood water currents. 

Hai Phong: Modern infrastructure deemed prerequisite for tourism growth

A beach on Khi (Monkey) Island of Cat Ba archipelago in Hai Phong 

After the sea-crossing bridge of Tan Vu – Lach Huyen opened on September 2, 2017, tourist arrivals in Cat Ba island district of northern Hai Phong city surged by 150 percent year on year from then to May 2018.

In the first half of this year, Cat Ba Island welcomed more than 1.5 million visitors. Holidaymakers arrived even in the winter, said Vu Tien Lap – head of the culture, sports and tourism division of Cat Hai district.

This sharp rise was partly attributed to the considerable improvement in local infrastructure, which also saw the opening of Cat Bi International Airport and Ha Noi – Hai Phong Expressway in recent years.

With tourism considered a key economic sector, the city has been working to attract big investors to develop tourism facilities.

At a recent meeting of municipal officials, Secretary of the Hai Phong Party’s Committee Le Van Thanh reiterated the necessity of building infrastructure serving tourism development. 

He noted that the city hopes to attract 7.5 million tourists by 2020. This figure rose from 5.96 million in 2016 to 6.71 million in 2017. It reached 3.41 million between January and June and is expected to hit 7.79 million this year.

Major developers like SunGroup, Vingroup and Flamingo have been building five-star hotels and other tourism facilities in Cat Ba and other places in the city. In 2019, Sungroup plans complete a 5.1km-long cable system from Cat Hai town to Phu Long commune and carry out a tourism project in Cat Ba.

The city sees beautiful landscapes, world-class tourism facilities and modern infrastructure as key to luring vacationers. Meanwhile, ensuring security and safety for tourists and service to their satisfaction will persuade them to return to Hai Phong.

Local tourism has also benefited from the city’s investment attraction policy, which has resulted in a big number of foreign workers arriving. About 2,000 experts have come to build automobile and mobile phone factories in Cat Hai. Many others from Japan, the Republic of Korea, the US and Europe have also stayed here to work on other investment projects.

In its development plans, the tourism sector of Hai Phong hopes to increase coordination with relevant agencies to improve tourism quality. It will also try to attract investors to make the city a key tourism destination of Vietnam.

Farmers pleased as Đồng Nai encourages large-scale fields, co-operatives

A large-scale rice field in Đồng Nai Province’s Trảng Bom District. – Photo dnrtv.org.vn

The pooling of fields to create large-scale fields and co-operatives for growing clean produce in Đồng Nai Province has benefited farmers and companies.

While most pepper farmers in the south-eastern province have suffered losses for the past two years because of the sharp decline in prices, more than 750 households growing pepper in Cẩm Mỹ District have earned profits by pooling their lands.

Their Lâm San Agriculture Co-operative in Lâm San Commune exports the spice to the EU.    

Nguyễn Văn Quang, one of the members, said the co-operative guarantees purchase of the entire pepper output at VNĐ10,000 – 20,000 a kilogramme higher than the market price.

Thus, the households do not suffer losses though pepper prices have fallen, he said.

Under the large-scale field model, farmers with contiguous lands grow the same crop using the same techniques and schedules and are instructed by a company or, a co-operative (if they are members).   

Nguyễn Quý Tân, whose land has been part of a large-scale cacao field in Định Quán District’s Gia Canh Commune for three years, said since joining he had not been worried about prices.

The Trọng Đức Cacao Products Limited Company, which helped establish the large-scale field, pays him VNĐ1,000 – 2,000 higher than market prices per kilo, he said.

In the past cacao prices had been volatile and sometimes fell by VNĐ2,000 a kilogramme, he said.  

If the company had not overseen the setting up of the large-scale field, he would cut down his cacao trees to plant other crops, he said.

“After I tied up with the company, I feel secure.”

Huỳnh Thành Vinh, director of the province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the establishment of large-scale fields and co-operatives to grow clean crops yielded positive results.

However, their number in the province was not large, he said.

He attributed this to farmers and companies not achieving benefits, the lack of markets, insufficient support from the authorities, and the small size and scattered nature of farm lands.

Đồng Nai has 18 large-scale fields with a total area of nearly 6,000ha pooled by around 5,000 participating households, according to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The area accounts for 2 per cent of the province’s arable lands.

To ensure sustainable development of agriculture, the province has called on farmers and companies to strengthen their co-operation and simplified access to preferential credit and land policies.

It will also co-operate with other agencies to provide farmers, co-operatives and companies with market information, especially about key local agricultural produce.  

"When authorities do a good job of forecasting the market, companies and co-operatives know precisely about the market’s demand and strengthen collaboration with farmers to set up large-scale fields to grow the crops that are in demand," Vinh said.

The province plans to help managers of co-operatives acquire management skills and participate in trade promotion activities in the country and abroad.

Viet Nam speeds up plastic free ocean initiative

Plastic waste is seen along the coast of Phước Diễm in the central province of Ninh Thuận. 

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Trần Hồng Hà has assigned the Việt Nam Administration of Sea and Islands to take responsibility for managing the plastic waste that is blighting the seas.

The move is part of Việt Nam’s efforts to build regional partnerships to manage plastic waste in Southeast Asia as well as a global mechanism to promote clearing the world’s seas.

The initiative was proposed at the 6th Global Environment Facility (GEF-6) Assembly in Đà Nẵng in June.

The initiative aims to promote co-operation and experience sharing among local and international organisations, and calls for changes to economic growth models with a focus on recycling instead of consumption.

According to the World Economic Forum, about 8 million tonnes of plastic waste was discharged into the oceans every year, while about 3 billion people rely on the oceans to earn a livelihood.

Environment Minister Trần Hồng Hà said that Việt Nam was committed to reducing plastic, and in the long term, working to eliminate the issue all together.

Director general of the sea and islands administration, Tạ Đình Thi, said Việt Nam was one of the world’s 20 worst polluters of plastic waste, releasing 500,000 tonnes per year.

"We are among six countries in the Southeast Asia region that has yet to build a waste management system,” he said.

He added that the country had witnessed the dangers of plastic pollution to the oceans, food chains and marine species. 

Five sentenced to death in major drug trafficking case

The People’s Court of HCM City has handed down the sentence of capital punishment to five defendants involved in the illegal trade and transportation of drugs. 

The People’s Court of HCM City has sentenced to death five defendants involved in the illegal trade and transportation of a large amount of drugs at the end of a four-day trial on Thursday.

Among the defendants sentenced to death is ring leader Nguyễn Văn Phú, born in 1964. In addition to the five, four others in the ring, which smuggled drugs from Cambodia to Việt Nam and from the north to HCM City for sale, were sentenced to life in prison. Another three received sentences ranging from five to 20 years in prison.

The defendants were also ordered to pay fines of VNĐ20-200 million (US$859.39 – 8,593) as an additional punishment, along with paying back the money they got from trafficking. Ring leader Phú must pay back VNĐ340 million ($14,606) from illegal proceeds from drug trafficking. 

On November 16, 2015, the police caught Trần Thanh Cương red handed as he trafficked 15 bricks of heroin weighing 5.2 kg, along with VNĐ50 million and $5,000 in cash. Cương confessed that he bought the drug from Phú. Phú was arrested later along with two bricks of heroin.

During the investigation from January 9-11, 2016, the police arrested more people involved in the drug ring. According to the investigation agency, the traffickers traded over 20 kg of heroin and over 17 kg of synthetic drug. Phú said he bought the heroin at VNĐ210 million per kg and sold it at VNĐ220 million.

From August to November 2015, Phú bought a total of 47 bricks of heroin and sold 45 to Cương. 

A/H5N6 bird flu detected on Hải Phòng farms

Poultry infected with the bird flu A/H5N6 virus are collected and disposed of in Hải Phòng City’s An Dương District. — Photo vnexpress.net

More than 10,000 chickens and ducks on two farms in An Dương District, the northern city of Hải Phòng have been infected with the A/H5N6 bird flu virus, Vice Chairman of the district People’s Committee Lê Văn Cường confirmed on Thursday.

The announcement came after samples taken from the dead poultry tested positive for the virus.

Cường said local authorised agencies culled all the infected poultry, sprayed chemicals at the two farms and examined surrounding farms to make timely interventions.

About two weeks ago, over 5,500 chickens and ducks at a farm in the district’s An Hưng Commune suffered from diarrhea and died, even though they were vaccinated already.

On July 27, similar symptoms were found among 4,650 ducks at a farm in An Hồng Commune. After that, Hải Phòng’s Livestock Production and Animal Health Departments took samples for testing.

According to World Health Organisation, the A/H5N6 bird flu virus killed people in China, but there is no evidence to prove it could be transmitted from person to person. The Ministry of Health called on localities to strengthen oversight and detect the virus for timely interventions. The localities were also asked to tighten controls to curb poultry smuggling. 

The Plays Festival to honour late Lưu Quang Vũ playwright

The Việt Nam Youth Theatre will perform a series of plays at the Lưu Quang Vũ’s Plays Festival from August 4 to September 1 in Hà Nội.

The festival will feature Lời Nói Dối Cuối Cùng (The Last Lying Words), Hoa Cúc Xanh Trên Đầm Lầy (Green Daisy on Marsh), Ai Là Thủ Phạm (Who is the Culprit) and Lời Thề Thứ 9 (The Ninth Oath).

The festival commemorates the 30th anniversary of the death of playwright Lưu Quang Vũ, who is regarded as an influential author in the country’s theatrical renewal process.

"The Last Lying Words is one of the most successful plays at the Youth Theatre," said Trương Nhuận, the theatre’s former director.

"The play is Vũ’s message about the truth against the lie. It awakes people to social evils such as achievement-addiction, corruption and authoritarian behaviour by local officials."

The play was written based on Vietnamese folk tales and features a love triangle where deceit and music are the order of the day, with country girl Lụa tricked by deceitful boy Cuội.

The play debuted in 1986, directed by People’s Artist Phạm Thị Thành. During her career she staged more than 200 plays, including 25 by Vũ. "Vũ always gave me his new works to read," said Thành.

The play was named Cuội, Bờm and Lụa at first. After Thành read the script she suggested changing to The Last Lying Words to give the name a broader meaning.

"The plays by Vũ reflect the darker side of society. But he always highlighted human dignity and he always believed in the truth, the fair and the ideal," Thành said.

Vũ was born in the northern province of Phú Thọ, although his father, playwright Lưu Quang Thuận, came from the central province of Quảng Nam.

Vũ served as a soldier in the anti-American War from 1965-70, when his poems began to gain recognition. But it was in the 1980s that he became a celebrated poet, writing about life in the post-war period and during the process of national renewal in the late 1980s.

His dramas, short stories and poems were charactised by their gritty realism and great humanity. He wrote some 50 dramas, most of which criticise the darker side of society, especially corruption and authoritarian behaviour. Many of them earned high literary acclaim.

He was married to fellow poet Xuân Quỳnh, whose poem Sóng (Wave) became standard reading material in secondary schools. The couple died in a car crash in 1988 when travelling from Hải Phòng city back to their home in Hà Nội. Their 12-year-old son was also killed in the accident.

The country’s highest awards, the Hồ Chí Minh Prize in art and literature,  were posthumously given to Vũ in 2000 and Quỳnh in 2017.

The festival will be held at the Youth Theatre, 11 Ngô Thì Nhậm Street. 

Vietnamese rapper Suboi scores another first with 88rising video

Rap queen Suboi has become the first Vietnamese artist to release a music video on 88rising's YouTube channel.

The 28-year-old Vietnamese female rapper premiered her music video for “N-SAO?” (Why?) on the YouTube channel of 88rising, a famous American mass media company that has gained popularity as a musical platform for Asian artists.

This is not the first time that Suboi has appeared on 88rising. She had previously introduced herself to international audiences when she performed “Doi" (Life) live on this channel in November 2016.

The music video for “N-SAO?” is directed by German filmmaker Alexa Karolinski and shot in Saigon. 

The video depicts images of ordinary life in Saigon, from that of lottery ticket sellers to late night workers against the background of street diners to old apartments. 

Suboi dons many interesting outfits from tank tops with baggy pants, floral suits with flip-flops to “street ninjas” dresses usually worn by Vietnamese women as suncoats on hot summer days.

The “N-SAO?” audio had previously premiered on Apple’s Beats 1 radio on July 18, making Suboi the first Vietnamese artist featured on the 24/7 international radio channel.

“N-SAO?”, produced by American producers Zach Golden and Pat McCusker is a bouncy, trap infused banger laced with lyrics that give shout outs to Saigon’s traffic, iced coffee, street vendors and Suboi’s native District 3. With this single, Suboi has presented a more mature and fashionable image to her fans.

Since being introduced to hip-hop music at the age of 14, Suboi has released two studio albums, one extended play and become a prominent act on Vietnam’s rap music scene. 

Often referred to as the “Vietnamese rap queen,” she was featured on Forbes Asia’s “30 Under 30” list in 2017, became the first Vietnamese artist to perform at 2015 SXSW Music Festival in the US and famously rapped for former US president Barack Obama when he visited Vietnam in 2016. She also founded her own company, Suboi Entertainment and has acted in two Vietnamese movies.

“N-SAO?” is available on several domestic and international music platforms, including Zing, Nhaccuatui, Apple Music, Spotify and Google Play.

Vietnam recalls 57 heart drugs with cancer-causing substance

Vietnam's health ministry has recalled 57 types of cardiac medications found to contain a carcinogen made by a Chinese firm.

The Drug Administration of Vietnam said the recalled drugs contained valsartan, a substance produced by a firm in China which was found to have N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), which can cause cancer if used over a long period.

It said 32 of the drugs recalled were processed in Vietnam and 25 were imported.

The made-in-Vietnam drugs were produced by 13 companies that imported valsartan from Chinese firm Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

The imported drugs originated in Bangladesh, India, Poland, the Republic of Korea and Spain, but producers in these countries also bought valsartan from the same Chinese producer to make the drugs, the administration said.

In Vietnam, the cardiac medications that contain valsartan are used to treat high blood pressure, heart failure and deal with the aftermath of heart attack.

The administration has issued a list of the 57 drugs that it wants to recall and requested producers and importers across the country to stop selling or using those drugs, and recall them as soon as possible.

It has also assured patients that the recall is unlikely to lead to a shortage of cardiac drugs, because there are currently 39 made-in-Vietnam drug types and 54 imported ones that contain valsartan without the cancer causing substance like the one produced in China.

Valsartan was initially developed by Swiss firm Novart and was sold on the market under the trade name Diovan.

When Novart’s monopoly protection for the drug expired, many brands jumped in to make the drug, including Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical.

The European Medicines Agency and several other countries withdrew medications that contain valsartan produced by Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical in July, confirming that it contained N-nitrosodimethylamine.

Sustainable development associated with gender equality

Ensuring gender equality and narrowing inequality are included in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN 2030 Agenda, agreed upon by leaders of the 193 UN member states in 2015 aiming to deal with the challenges of comprehensive socio-economic development and assure environmental sustainability and good governance.

These are considered solid guidelines for the Vietnamese business community to embark on their journey at a national level.

According to the UN 2030 Agenda, the Government is responsible for providing guidelines by devising concrete national plans to create a favourable environment for each citizen to learn about the importance of the agenda.

Businesses have played an indispensable role in achieving SDGs. The successful implementation of SDGs will help businesses create a more favourable environment for their operations and conquer the global market. The behaviour of enterprises has been key to the success of each goal through responsible business activities, including the responsibility for ensuring gender equality and reducing inequality.

Recent research by McKinsey has found that companies which embrace gender diversity can perform their activities 15% better than their competitors.

A common report of Intel and Dahlberg has shown that technological companies with at least one female leader have a business value of 13%-16%  higher than those with male leaders.

Furthermore, a survey conducted by First Round Capital has indicated that their investments in companies whose founders are female have reaped 63% better rewards than their investments in firms whose founders are male.

Vietnam has introduced the issue of gender equality in the workplace and consider it as one of the major focuses for the country’s socio-economic progress. Therefore, women have made certain achievements in gender equality, especially in education and health.

According to the General Statistics Office (GSO), in 2017 the share of leadership roles occupied by women had risen to 28%, which is higher than the world average of 19% and higher than the average of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations.

The rate at which women are participating in the workforce in Vietnam is relatively high, with up to 72% of the country’s total female population working and accounting for 48.1% of the labour force.

According to the report ‘World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends for Women 2018’ released by the International Labour Organization (ILO), Vietnam is among the nations with the highest rate of women in the workforce and that this greatly contributes to the country’s economic development.

However, female workers face a number of hurdles in their employment and incomes. The report has shown that although female workers make up 48.4% of the total workforce in Vietnam, the rate of employment for women is 9% lower than for men.

At present, about 7.8 million of all female workers are working in unofficial sectors with insalubrious working conditions. The rate of female workers operating in the unofficial sector with substandard conditions makes up 59.6% while this rate is only 31.8% for men.

In another area of disparity, the monthly income for male workers is 10.7% higher than for women (VND5.3 million compared to VND4.7 million).

Director of the ILO Research Department Damian Grimshaw affirmed that challenges and barriers to women’s full and free participation in the workforce will restrict Vietnam’s ability to realise its economic growth roadmap along with social development.

The ILO representative said the UN Agenda 2030 with 17 SDGs including gender equality is obviously a call to businesses to sustain their efforts during the journey of advancing toward a global economy of equity, sustainability and integration.

The fulfillment of SDGs in the 2015-2030 period is needed for Vietnam to realise its aspiration for a new level of prosperity, innovation, equity and democracy by 2035.

The promotion of gender equality in the workplace applies to the use and development of human resources, which will directly impact labour productivity, and the efficiency of enterprises.

By boosting the operational productivity of enterprises, the promotion of gender equality is regarded a strategic investment which delivers sustainable growth and development.