People with HIV lack legal aid

A doctor gives consultation to a patient living with HIV.

Strengthening legal aid to people living with HIV/AIDS is expected to help them better exercise their rights and receive essential services, heard a recent conference in Hanoi.

Speaking at the conference held by the Hanoi-based Centre for the Law, Healthcare and HIV/AIDS Policies under the Vietnam Bar Association, Director Trinh Thi Le Tram said few people living with HIV in Vietnam knew or understood the law on HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control, and this prevented them from exercising their rights.

Few had ever received services like legal consultation or legal aid, she said, adding that few lawyers offered these services.

Under the current law on legal aid, people living with HIV are not considered official beneficiaries to receive aid. They are instead listed as people with disabilities and have no one to rely on.

Shortcomings in offering aid were also revealed at the State's legal aid centres based at municipal and provincial Justice Department offices, she said.

Those who wanted access to legal aid had to show HIV-positive results, reveal their names and go to a State agency's office, which made them afraid and hesitant, Tram said.

She called for support from agencies and lawyers to promote legal aid to those living with HIV.

The Government was asked to offer funding to civil societies like Tram's centre to better reach out to HIV carriers and offer effective aid, she said.

Dr Kristan Schoultz, UNAIDS Vietnam Country Director, said people living with HIV should be able to access a wide range of legal aid services, including legal education, legal assistance, representation in civil, criminal and administrative cases, and litigation.

She said although Vietnam had legal regulations to protect the rights and legal interests of people living with HIV, stigma, discrimination and associated rights violations were still common in healthcare facilities, workplaces and the wider community.

Many people living with HIV who suffer discrimination and rights violations do not seek help because they are afraid and feel they have nowhere to turn for protection, she said.

According to a survey in 2014 by the Vietnam National Network of People living with HIV/AIDS, 11 percent of about 1,600 respondents of people living with HIV in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Can Tho, Hai Phong and Dien Bien provinces, said their rights had been violated.

They experienced gossip and insults, were excluded from social activities and sometimes lost their jobs.

However, 94 percent of respondents who had their rights violated said that they did not seek legal assistance as they didn't believe it would help.

Quang Tri launches first steel-hulled fishing boat under Decree 67

Authorities in the central coastal province of Quang Tri on March 4 launched the first steel-hulled fishing boat built in the province under the Government’s Decree 67 at Cua Viet port.

The ship, with a capacity of 900 CV, was completed after seven months at a cost of 14.5 billion VND (630,000 USD). Of which, over 13.7 billion VND (595,000 USD) came from preferential loans from the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) in accordance with the Decree.

So far, Quang Tri has implemented the building of 15 out of 32 fishing vessels which are under the Decree 67. Two 700 CV wooden fishing boats have been put into operation.

Quang Tri is has a fleet of 2,300 fishing vessels, but only 193 of them can operate offshore.

Decree 67, which took effect in August 2014, stipulates policies in investment, credit, insurance, and tax incentives in support of fishermen and ship owners who wish to build new fishing boats, upgrade their existing ones or buy fishing and marine equipment. Its aim is to earn fishermen higher incomes.

Fuel prices unchanged after nine cuts in a row

The Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Finance decided to make no change to base fuel prices on March 4, following nine cuts in a row since October 19 last year.

The two ministries announce the base fuel prices every 15 days, depending on the fluctuation of world oil and gas prices since the previous announcement.

The ministries said although the average global price of RON 92 from February 19 to March 3 was 42.314 USD per barrel, up 2 USD, while that of diesel was 40,325 USD per barrel, up 2.6 USD, the national petrol price stabilisation fund will be used to maintain petrol price at the current level.

Petrol RON 92, E5 and diesel will be subsidised 363 VND to 983 VND per litre to keep the prices of petrol RON 92 and bio-petrol E5 at 13,752 VND (0.617 USD) per litre and 13,321 VND (0.597 USD) per litre, respectively.

The ceiling prices for diesel 0.05S and kerosene are pegged at 9,580 VND (0.43 USD) per litre and 8,905 VND (0.4 USD) per litre, respectively.

Justice ministry reviews anti-corruption performance

The Ministry of Justice held a conference in Hanoi on March 4 to review the 10-year implementation of the Law on Corruption Prevention and Control.

Participants heard that in the period, the ministry detected and handled 22 corruption cases in agencies and organisations under its management, while attaching importance on preventive measures.

The ministry has focused on inspection and settlement of complaints and denouncements over the past decade, defining the detection of corrupt behaviours as the most important stage in prevention efforts.

Many agreed that the recovery of appropriated assets is important in order to enhance the efficiency of anti-corruption efforts. They urged more clear regulations and better coordination between investigative agencies, courts and verdict execution forces in this field.

Bettering institutions, policy and law in the field is vital to fight against corruption, participants said, stressing the need to revise the current Law on Corruption Prevention and Control to cover both State and non-State sectors.

They also suggested promulgating, revising and supplementing regulations of normative legal documents relating to corruption prevention in the direction of increasing the transparency of State agencies’ operations, clarifying the responsibility of managerial officials at different levels and ensuring the protection of whistle-blowers and corruption-related information providers.

The Law on Corruption Prevention and Control was approved at the 8 th sitting of the 11th National Assembly in November 2005. It comprises eight chapters and 92 articles. Revisions and supplements to the 2005 law were made in 2007 and 2012.

Craft village booths come to HCM City

Vietnam House, designed by Vo Trong Nghia – an architect who has achieved renown for his bamboo structures, has opened its doors to visitors at 187 Nguyen Van Huong, Thao Dien Ward, District 2, Ho Chi Minh City.

Covering an area of 2,300sq.m on the banks of the Sai Gon River, Vietnam House has 50 booths and 12 mini production sites representing 12 major craft villages of Vietnam, including bamboo and rattan, sedge and water hyacinth, ceramics, wood sculpture, lacquer, embroidery, stone carving, weaving, paper craft, painting and metal craft.

It offers a convenient space for tours where visitors can see first-hand the country's talented artisans at work.

Vietnam House also has an outdoor ‘do it yourself' area where guests can try to make certain craft items by themselves.

Every Saturday and Sunday, they can also enjoy the traditional music that is performed from 10.30 to 11.30am.

Besides, Vietnam House will organise monthly exhibitions and seminars with themes relating to the 12 craft villages.

Bridge, road construction project given green light

The Prime Minister has approved a project on bridge building and road maintenance to ensure traffic flow in areas populated by ethnic minorities.

The project, launched between 2016 and 2021, costs 408.93 million USD, of which 383 million USD were sourced from the World Bank’s International Development Association.

It will construct more than 2,170 out of 4,145 bridges included in a 2014-2020 national traffic safety programme set for areas resided by ethnic groups.

Meanwhile, approximately 676 km of roads will be upgraded and over 61 km receive constant maintenance.

Beneficiaries of the project include the provinces of Ha Giang, Lai Chau, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Ninh Binh, Hai Duong, An Giang and Soc Trang.

Hanoi, Wellington seek to foster education links

A delegation of representatives from several schools in Hanoi are on a working visit to New Zealand from February 29-March 5, with a view to promote educational cooperation and exchange of students between the two countries’ junior and senior high schools.

Phung Thi Lan, CEO of the T&L Education-Training and International Cooperation JSC – the organiser of the event, said the delegation visited and worked with representatives from schools in Wellington to discuss cooperation orientations and programmes of student exchange.

Vietnamese Ambassador to New Zealand Nguyen Viet Dung said New Zealand is an attractive destination for Vietnamese and international students thanks to its world-leading education.

He appreciated cooperation between schools in Hanoi and Wellington in training teachers, building curricula and the exchange of students; affirming that the embassy will enhance efforts to expand the model, thus promoting people-to-people and cultural exchange between the two nations.

On the occasion, the ten most renowned schools in Wellington decided to present scholarships worth 30,000 NZD (19,800 USD) to excellent students studying in Hanoi’s schools.

Chan May Port welcomes foreign cruise ships

Two foreign cruise ships, the Celebrity Millennium and the Europa, harboured at Chan May Port in the central province of Thua Thien – Hue on March 4.

The ships are carrying 2,650 tourists and crew members to visit Hue imperial city.

Since the beginning of this year, the port has welcomed nine international cruise ships with over 11,500 travelers and crew members on board.

Notably, the five-star Celebrity Millennium ship has anchored at the port for the second time this year, carrying a total of 4,200 tourists on board.

Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Phan Tien Dung said the province aims to draw around 60,000-70,000 tourists via Chan May Port in 2016.

Authorities have continued to upgrade the port to receive more international cruise ships.

This month, the port is expected to serve an additional four ships bringing around 4,500 international tourists and 2,000 crew members to visit Hue imperial city and the central provinces of Vietnam.

Tourist arrivals to Da Nang increase sharply

Around 326,000 travellers visited the central coastal city of Da Nang in February, up 13.9 from the same period last year, according to the municipal Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism.

Of them, approximately 126,000 were foreigners and nearly 200,000 were domestic holiday-makers, up 27.1 percent and 6.9 percent compared to the same period last year.

The revenue from tourism rose 17 percent to 1.9 trillion VND (82.6 million USD).

Since the beginning of the year, the number of tourist arrivals reached 655,000, a rise of 21.4 percent.

In order to promote the tourism sector in the coming time, Da Nang focuses on implementing the “Year of Culture and Urban Civilisation”, cultural festivals along Han river, and activities relating to the fifth Asian Beach Games.

In 2014, Da Nang welcomed 4 million tourists, including 1 million foreigners.

Government urged to take action on Paris climate deal

Commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions need to be translated into actions, said Louise Chamberlain, Country Director of UNDP.

The statement was made at a UNDP workshop held yesterday in Ha Noi to identify opportunities, points of action as well as challenges Viet Nam needs to address by 2020 in order to be able to implement the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation.

Chamberlain also said that in Viet Nam, it was clear that the energy and forestry sectors offer the greatest potential for emissions reduction and carbon sequestration.

"The energy sector relies heavily on fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum products for power generation. In order for Viet Nam's growing economy to reduce rather than increase its carbon footprint in the future, this must inevitably change," she said.

She also said the Government needed to take action soon because the country already suffered damage from storm surges and typhoons.

"Viet Nam has seen unprecedented saline water intrusion in the Mekong Delta and drought for example in Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan provinces, causing great distress for the economy and people's livelihoods," she added.

Speaking at the workshop, deputy minister of natural resources and environment Tran Hong Ha agreed with Chamberlain, saying that in order to implement the Paris Agreement, Viet Nam needed to consider approaching a sustainable production and consumption model.

"Viet Nam also needs to use energy and natural resources economically and effectively," he affirmed.

The Paris Agreement was approved at COP 21 in Paris in December 2015.

The Paris Agreement resolves the fundamental differences in the mitigation responsibilities of developed and developing countries. It is based on the principle that all countries should commit to continuously undertaking mitigation efforts of the highest ambition in years to come.

In terms of mitigation, Viet Nam's commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 8 per cent compared to the business-as-usual scenario will be considered by the international community and may be adjusted in 2018.

Duck farmers adapt in Dong Thap

At the age of 16, Le Ngoc Moi from My Hao Commune, Dong Thap Province began his career as a free-range duck farmer. Traditionally, in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta area, duck farmers walked their herds from commune to commune to feed the ducks with weeds from post-harvest rice paddies.

He was told by neighbours that he would struggle to make a living as a duck farmer.

"Friends and family advised me to not be a duck farmer but I have done this job for 37 years," he said.

When he first started out Moi borrowed money from relatives to purchase baby ducks. He soon bred a 500-duck herd.

Sometimes he would walk 60-70km with the herd to neighboring provinces, anywhere he could find food for his ducks.

He said free-range duck breeders had two fears: drunken thefts and lack of customers.

"People can steal tens of duck for a drunken meal," he said "but it was worse if I had no customers or duck prices went down."

He went bankrupt when he was 24. He took his ducks to Long An Province, and sold his herd for a low price.

He wasn't deterred and after saving some money began his operation again, and at the age of 30 had a new herd.

In late 2015, he decided to shift from the traditional free-range, roaming duck farming method to a concentrated model, with a fenced-in herd.

He estimates he now has a net worth of VND10 billion (USVND10,031,625,000).

Early this year, 13 local households set up a concentrated duck-breeding co-operative, the first in the province. Moi instructed and shared his experiences with other breeders.

Being bred under the safe farming model, the ducks were given industrially-processed food supplied by Sa Dec City-based Co May Foodstuff Company and clean water from a pond.

Vinh Long Province-based Vinh Nghiep Company purchased all the duck eggs, Dong Thap's veterinary department supported the vaccination programme, and a local bank offered preferential loans to build infrastructure.

Moi has reaped the rewards of the concentrated breeding model, and hopes other farmers can too.

"I am well aware of the hardship of being a duck farmer. I will be happy if other farmers make money from duck breeding like me," he said.

Hanoi pushing for energy efficiency

Ha Noi is promoting the efficient use of energy and resources by tightening management of energy-consuming equipment and vehicles.

The municipal Department of Industry and Trade will work with relevant agencies to supervise capacity, technology and environment standards at production facilities, as well as energy labelling on machines and equipment at import-export enterprises.

It should also make recommendations to the city and the Ministry of Industry and Trade on the implementation of programmes encouraging the use of energy-saving equipment and vehicles.

The municipal People's Committee told the Department of Construction to examine the city's building material development planning to assure it is in line with the country's master plans for developing eco-friendly building materials by 2020.

The department should keep a close watch on technical standards for saving energy on new construction, upgrades to large buildings, and equipment and materials in the buildings.

The city must also inspect mineral exploitation and processing activities to ensure they comply with legal regulations on environmental protection. The municipal Department of Science and Technology needs to work with the Ministry of Science and Technology to remove industrial products that are outdated and not suitable for socio-economic development.

In addition, the city's Department of Transport is required to set up minimum fuel consumption standards for vehicles.

Pepper farmers race the clock to find more workers

While pepper trees are promising a bumper crop this year, farmers in the southern province of Dong Nai are worried about harvesting the trees in time due to a shortage of labourers, local authorities said.

Le Thi Hiep, head of Xuan Loc District's Agriculture and Rural Development, said pepper growers found it difficult to hire a large number of people to reap the pepper fruits.

As many as 1,800ha out of 3,000 ha of pepper trees were waiting for harvest, she said.

Dong Nai Province is one of the localities with the largest area of pepper growing in the country with nearly 10,000ha. Xuan Loc District alone grows about 3,000ha.

Tran Huu Thang, a pepper grower in Xuan Loc District's Xuan Tho Commune, said normally he needed 16 employees to harvest his family's 2.8ha of pepper trees. However, he could employ only half of them this harvest.

Thang said he had no solution but waiting for other households to finish harvesting their pepper trees and use those employees for pepper collection.

"Everybody can do the pepper harvesting work as it does not require any skillful technique," he said.

However, the number of labourers who harvest pepper fruits was on the decline, Thang said.

He attributed it to a growing number of industrial zones in the region which attracted a lot of young labourers.

Workers got stable income and benefits from insurance schemes working at companies in the industrial zones while pepper harvesting work is a seasonal job and after that labourers had to find other jobs to earn their livings, Thang said.

The increase of payment for workers also caused difficulties for pepper households.

"This year my family hired six people with payment of between VND180,000-190,000 (US$8-8.5) per person per day whereas it was VND160,000 ($7) last year," he said.

The pepper harvest lasts between one and two months so it was necessary to harvest all the fruits in time, Thang said. Otherwise, he said, it would affect the quality of pepper trees the following year.

"This year was the first year that the region experienced the shortage of labourers," Thang said.

Next year he planned to visit some communes in the Mekong River Delta to look for people to do the work before harvesting time, he said.

Hiep, the head of the district's Agriculture and Rural Development, said the department had called on local farmers to help each others.

"If the situation occurs next year, we will call upon localities which don't grow pepper to assist pepper growers in the region," she said.

A similar situation is seen in Thong Nhat District which is home to 200ha of pepper.

Vo Van Thanh, who lives in the district's Hung Loc Commune, said he had hired 11 people with payment of between VND200,000 (US$8.9) per person per day while last year the payment was VND180,000 ($8).

He hoped that scientists would soon invent a machine helping pepper growers harvest more easily like the one that was used for coffee trees.

Tran Thuong, another pepper grower from Hung Loc Commune, said he had 2.5 ha of pepper at harvest time.

Despite the increase in payment for pepper collectors, his family couldn't find enough labourers.

While more and more young people work for companies at nearby industrial zones in the region, the harvest time of sugarcane, cassava, cashew nuts and pepper occurred at the same time due to the weather, Thuong explained.

He said in the future he would use modern techniques to help increase the trees output and make the pepper ripen at the same time so it doesn't require a lot of labour.

Patient overload reduced after hospitals upgraded

The building and upgrading of new health facilities in the country as well as the improved capacity of doctors, especially at the grassroots level, has helped reduce patient overload at hospitals.

At a review meetings held in HCM City yesterday (March 3), Dr Luong Ngoc Khue, head of the Medical Examination and Treatment Department, said that hospital facilities, especially in the fields of oncology, surgery-trauma, heart, obstetrics and paediatrics, had been either built or upgraded.

These activities were all part of a Ministry of Health plan to reduce patient overload.

At central-level hospitals (those managed by the central government), work was done on 15 hospitals and centres with a total of 4,765 beds. The hospitals also received advanced equipment.

These included the Oncology Centre at Cho Ray Hospital in HCM City, and the National Geriatric Hospital.

Also improved was the ratio of beds per 10,000 people last year increased to 31.2, while it was 24.7 in 2012.

Hospitals also set up family doctor clinics.

"Patient overload is being solved step by step," Khue said, adding that patient satisfaction was better because of higher quality.

The examination process at hospitals now takes four to eight steps, down from the former 12-14 steps.

Patients' waiting time has also fallen to an average of 48.5 minutes, saving 27.2 million of labour days a year.

In January, the Ministry of Health told hospitals under the ministry's management to pledge that patients would no longer share beds after 24 hours of being hospitalised.

Thirty-five out of 39 central-level hospitals nationwide so far have carried out the commitment.

Many programmes send doctors of central- and city-level hospitals to improve the capacity of doctors at lower-level hospitals.

This has helped reduce patient overload at central- and city-level hospitals, Khue said.

In addition, advanced techniques in treatment such as robotic surgery and continuous blood purification have been applied.

Khue said that hospital quality last year improved compared to 2013 and 2014.

Hospitals at the central level had an average score of 3.5 for quality out of a maximum of five. It was 2.8 for city-level hospitals and 2.6 for those in districts.

The scores for private hospitals ranged from 2.53-2.9.

Last year, hospitals nationwide admitted more than 146 million outpatient turns, an increase of 4.5 per cent compared to 2014.

The number of inpatient turns was 13.5 million.

Khue told leaders of hospitals in HCM City and other southern provinces and cities to strengthen inspection and surveillance of safety and proper drug usage.

He also asked that they pay more attention to drug resistance, infections, clinical nutrition and radiation safety during patient examination and treatment.

LGBT recognition needs more effort

There is still a gap between the laws protecting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) rights and public opinion towards LGBT folks in Viet Nam, according to the deputy head of the Ministry of Justice's International Law Department, Nguyen Thanh Tu.

An LGBT-themed event sponsored by the Economist newspaper debated this and other LGBT topics in Hong Kong today.

Viet Nam recently has made positive legal changes to protect LGBT rights, said Tu.

In 2014, the Law on Family and Marriage removed the prohibition of same-sex marriage. In November last year, the National Assembly legalised gender reassignment, recognising all transgender people and their legal rights within their new gender.

Up to 86 per cent of National Assembly deputies voted in favour of LGBT rights. But there is still a gap between the law and reality when it comes to tolerance of LGBT roles and rights, said Tu.

A survey of 3,000 LGBT people in Viet Nam revealed that about 21 per cent still suffer discrimination in the workplace. About 44 per cent suffer discrimination in school. And more than 40 per cent suffer discrimination in their families, according to Tu.

The concept of a patriarchal family is central to some Asian countries' cultural values. As a result, the idea of producing a son to carry the biological line is still powerful. The fact that homosexual couples can not produce biological children contributes to low LGBT acceptance in Asian countries including Viet Nam, according to speakers.

To close the gap between law and reality, there should be better communication and joint cooperation between the government and the business community, both of which often remain silent on LGBT rights issues. Social organisations should also be encouraged to promote LGBT rights and community involvement, said Tu.

According to Hoang Tu Anh, Director of the Center for Creative Initiatives in Health and Population, family should also play a role in promoting LGBT rights.

"While some parents accept their gay child, many find it hard to accept the truth and have negative reactions towards their child", said Tu Anh.

"Parents should bear in mind that it is happiness and how a child enjoys his life that matters", she added.

"More projects for the LGBT community to make their voices heard must be made available, so that the public becomes aware that LGBT is not something new", said Tu Anh.

Viet Nam is the sixth country in Asia - and the second country in Southeast Asia - to allow gender reassignment and to recognize transgender people.

Women's documentaries hit screen

Three short documentary films on women will be shown at a cinema theatre in Ha Noi on the occasion of International Women's Day, which falls on March 8.

All the films, Me Con Ha (Ha and Her Mother), Sao Binh Khong Lay Chong (Why is Binh not married?) and Con Di Truong Hoc (I Go to School), have been made by young female directors.

Me Con Ha and Sao Binh Khong Lay Chong made a strong impression on audiences when they were premiered last year. The two films are among the films produced by a filmmaking project of the Centre for Assistance and Development of Movie Talents (TPD), which was sponsored by the American Embassy in Viet Nam.

Me Con Ha was directed by Pham Thi Thu Le when she was a student of Pham Hong Thai High School in Ha Noi. It is about a 12-year-old girl who is adopted by a female drug addict. The little girl is constantly beaten by her foster mother's lover.

The film, which is very moving, shocked audiences when it was shown.

Le said it wasn't easy to shoot the scenes as domestic violence required very delicate handling. "I had to be very patient and sensitive," she said. "The audience can feel how I shivered with fear while holding the camera."

It won the Best Documentary award at the 2015 Golden Lotus Bud Awards.

Pham Minh Ha's Sao Binh Khong Lay Chong tells the story of a single woman who comes under pressure from her family and neighbours to get married.

Con Di Truong Hoc by Ha Le Diem won the Silver Kite Award from the Viet Nam Cinematography Association in 2013. There was no winner of the Golden Silver Kite award.

The film features an HIV-positive Dao ethnic woman who carries her little son on bicycle to kindergarten every day.

The screenings will begin at 7pm today (March 5) at TPD, 51 Tran Hung Dao Street. Film directors and the actors will interact with the audience after the screenings. The event has been jointly organised by TPD and Viet Nam Hagar International.

APEC logo design contest opens to Vietnamese painters

A logo design contest for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum 2017 was launched yesterday in Ha Noi. Viet Nam will host this big event next year.

The contest is organised by the Fine Arts' Department of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. It is open to all professional and amateur Vietnamese painters.

Proposed logo designs must portray a modern and dynamic Viet Nam, determined to boost international integration. The logo must also represent the themes of the APEC forum 2017: dynamism, action, creation, shared vision, and moving towards the future.

Candidates may submit their logo designs to the jury until April 4, 2016. The first prize winner will receive VND30 million (US$1,400).

Hosting the 2017 APEC summit is a major focus of Vietnamese foreign affairs from now through 2020, highlighting Viet Nam's commitment to international integration and multi-lateral foreign policy, according to top Vietnamese diplomats.

Viet Nam joined APEC in 1998 and hosted the 2006 APEC forum.

VSTV launches premium, online TV programmes

Cable TV provider Vietnam Satellite Television (VSTV) has announced a Premium+ package and released an online application, myK+, which allows subscribers to watch its programmes on mobile devices.

Premium+, the only package available from March 1, costs VND125,000 a month and offers 130 SD and HD TV channels including four exclusive channels, K+1, K+PM, K+PC, K+NS, and nine Vietnam Television channels.

Also from March 1 all subscribers can register for myK+ for free.

HCM City to consider vehicle ban in backpackers’ area

Ho Chi Minh City’s Party chief Dinh La Thang said on March 4 he will ask the local government to consider a vehicle ban in the backpackers’ area in the evening.

Thang had a meeting with the Party authorities of District 1 to discuss the district’s proposal to ban vehicles from entering the backpackers’ area, including Bui Vien and Pham Ngu Lao streets, Tuoi Tre newspaper reported.

The district wanted to turn these streets into pedestrian-only from 7 p.m. until late everyday, said the district party chief Huynh Thanh Hai.

District 1's chief police officer Nguyen Tan Dat also said the ban is needed as the backpackers’ area satisfies all criteria for a walking street with shops, services and sidewalk eateries, which help many people make a living.

Some said the area should have been turned into a walking street because it is being used by many pedestrians, and this westerners’ neighborhood has so many vehicles threatening the safety of a high number of tourists.

Thang said he will ask the HCMC People’s Committee to seriously take the vehicle ban into consideration.

Unsettled dads in Vietnam flood in for DNA test after 1st superfecundation report

Numerous fathers called a genetic analysis center in Hanoi this week raising concerns about their newborn twins whom they doubted might not biologically be theirs, following a rare case of twins born of difference fathers.

Nguyen Thi Nga, director at the Center for Genetic Analysis and Technologies (CGAT), said she received incessant phone calls from one father after another on Thursday morning, requesting consultancy on cases where their twins look nothing alike.

These calls came in the aftermath of the first recorded case of heteropaternal twins in northern Vietnam, covered by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Wednesday.

Heteropaternal twins are born when two ova (egg cells) from the same menstrual cycle are fertilized by sperm from separate acts of sexual intercourse with two different males. The phenomenon is also known scientifically as heteropaternal superfecundation.

The twins in question were brought in for a DNA test at CGAT by their father prior to Tet, or Vietnam’s Lunar New Year festival, which fell on February 8.

According to Nga, the father in Hoa Binh Province was supposedly pressured by his relatives to take the test due to doubt about one of the twins’ real father, which had arisen from the baby’s appearance dissimilar from any family member’s.

The results came as a shock to the said dad that he is the biological father of only one of the two babies, while his wife mothers both.

Though the names of the parties involved have been kept secret to protect their identity and privacy, the curious case has still made the news so far, sparking a wave of other concerned fathers across Vietnam who are in a similar situation.

One of the men who rang Nga said he has a pair of twin daughters who will turn one next month.

The father had been troubled by the dissimilar appearances of his daughters since their birth, and his uneasiness has grown over time as their differences become more evident when they get older.

Throughout the conversation, Nga said, the concerned father kept reaffirming his unshaken faith in his wife, but confessed that some thought still burdened him and it was intensified after he heard about the reported case.

Nga said she had to keep reassuring the fathers who raised their ‘concerns’ that there was no cause for worry, as twins looking different from each other is not an uncommon phenomenon, and does not necessarily mean they are heteropaternal twins.

In fact, Nga added, fraternal twins, or twins who were fertilized by two different egg cells, are just like siblings who were born separately and can look very different from each other depending on whom they take after in the family.

“In these cases,” Nga said, “I always take it upon myself to advise the family not to take the DNA test, as heteropaternal twins are extremely rare in practice. Any doubt, no matter how small, can be devastating to their family ties, especially when such doubt hinges merely on the different appearances of the babies.”

There are around 10 pairs of heteropaternal twins recorded worldwide, who can have different skin colors or even completely different appearances from each another, Nga concluded.

Answering a Tuoi Tre question on March 3 about the likelihood of similar occurrences, Vu Ba Quyet, director at the National Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology, said the probability is extremely low, but not completely impossible.

Quyet denied commenting on the credibility of recent reports of the pair of heteropaternal twins in Hoa Binh, but said it is possible for a female to bear twins from different males if she has engaged in sexual intercourse with the males within the same menstrual cycle, and her body has released two ova to be fertilized separately by their sperm.

The twins born this way can be different from each other in their appearance, genome, and gender, Quyet added.

Luu Thi Hong, a gynecologist and former general director at the Department of Maternal Health and Children under the Ministry of Health, said it is completely normal for fraternal twins to look different from each other.

According to Hong, the female body generally releases one ovum per month, though some women can release two at different times during a menstrual cycle, and the one that is churned out first, or either of the ova that comes out at the same time, is fertilized by the sperm.

“The conceptus takes seven to eight days to travel to the uterus and cling to its wall. Strictly speaking, a woman is considered pregnant only after the implantation of the conceptus has finished, so even if one of her ova has been conceived, the other ovum can still be fertilized within the seven to eight days it takes for the first conceptus to travel to the uterus,” Hong elaborated.

Vietnam jails Russian man for using fake credit cards

A court in Ho Chi Minh City on March 4 sentenced a Russian man to five years imprisonment for using fake credit cards to withdraw more than US$10,000 from local ATMs, VnExpress reported.

Oleg Kokoulin, 30, was convicted on charge of “appropriating properties.”

Kokoulin told the court he got to know a Vietnamese man named Ho online, who told him he could sell fake credit cards.

In late 2013 he came to HCMC and bought 30 fake credit cards from Ho for US$3,000.

According to police, he conducted 120 transactions to withdraw money using these fake credit cards at ATM booths in District 1.

He managed to withdraw VND227 million (US$10,183) in 74 successful transactions from various ATMs until one kept rejecting his cards and caught the attention of the bank's ATM center on January 2, 2014.

The bank’s guards brought Kokoulin to a police station and the bank staff identified his cards as fake.

He was arrested soon afterwards.

Taste of Australia slated for April

The Australian Consulate General in HCMC on Monday launched the Australian Government’s Taste of Australia 2016 promotion which will take place in April.

Taste of Australia 2016 which is supported by the Australian Government, industry, and business partners will introduce a diverse range of Australian premium food and beverage products to Vietnamese importers, distributors, retailers, restaurants, chefs and consumers, and share Australia’s culinary culture and high-quality ingredients with the Vietnamese market.

There are exciting events and promotions throughout the country, including supermarket promotions and cooking demonstrations; special menus launching featuring Australian dishes and wine-matching events at leading restaurants, hotels and resorts. A culinary competition is open for hospitality students from around HCMC and judged by celebrity Australian chefs. An exclusive supper-club dinners with leading Australian chefs will be held in a framework of the program.

As part of Taste of Australia 2016, the Australian Government is bringing a delegation of exporters of premium products from Australia to Vietnam to introduce them and their products to the market, and undertake business-matching to grow brands and drive new business for these exporters and their Vietnamese importers and distributors.

The organizers also invite retailers, importers, distributors, restaurants and hotels featuring Australian food and beverage products to become partners of Taste of Australia 2016.

For further information, contact Ms. Thanh Cao, Senior Business Development Manager at the Australian Trade Commission via email: thanh.cao@austrade.gov.au for retail promotions and business development, or Ms. Erin Leggat, Consul at the Australian Consulate-General via email: erin.leggat@dfat.gov.au for restaurant promotions.

6 month old baby girl saved from anaphylactic shock

A 6 month old was saved from anaphylactic shock after vaccinating with Quivaxem - the South Korean made vaccine to prevent five common, potentially fatal childhood diseases.

A mobile emergency team of the hospital and their counterparts in the General Hospital in the northern province of Phu Tho saved a 6 month old baby girl from fatal anaphylactic shock.

The neonate was immunized in a medical center in Nong Trang ward in Viet Tri Town of Phu Tho Province. One hour after vaccinating she cried a lot and had abnormal signs including cold hand and feet, pale skin and slow pulse. Her parents took her to the hospital where doctors diagnosed her to have anaphylactic shock after immunizing.

Soon she was given ventilator and doctors inject adrenaline into her muscle which helps to relieve the symptoms of anaphylaxis by causing blood vessels to narrow, and opening up airways yet her condition was not abated.

Doctors of Phu Tho General Hospital called the National Children Hospital and a mobile emergency team arrived in the province’s hospital one hour later. After 3 hour of intensive treatment, the kid’s condition was stable and she was transferred to the National Children Hospital for further treatment.

Until yesterday, the baby was recovered.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the proportion of children with anaphylactic shock after being vaccinated with a vaccine against leukemia, whooping-cough and tetanus may amount to 20 per 1 million vaccinated children.

Hospitals to hire only graduates for some posts

Viet Nam's hospitals will employ only graduates for the posts of nurses, hospital orderlies, medical technicians and pharmacists from 2021.

Those with vocational school certificates will have to complete their higher education to meet the standard by 2025.

Pham Van Tac, director-general of the department of organisation and personnel under the health ministry, said at a conference in Hai Phong City yesterday that the move was aimed at improving the quality of healthcare services, as the above positions typically affected service quality.

It would also help to improve Viet Nam's competitiveness in the international and regional integration processes, he said.

Tac said medical training institutions should develop or change training programmes to meet the demand.

At present, there are 40 medical universities, 68 colleges and 71 vocational schools that are training healthcare staff in Viet Nam.

The official also said the health ministry was encouraging hospitals to practise financial autonomy and pay their staff with their own funds, instead of using state subsidy.

Nine out of 37 hospitals across the country are practising financial autonomy.

The ministry said by 2020, financial autonomy would be implemented in up to 20 hospitals.

Tac also said hospitals and agencies under the management of the health ministry should restructure their organisations to reduce staff by 10 per cent by 2021.

The move follows a government's decree on restructuring public and civil workforce, under which ministries, agencies and localities have been asked to reduce their staff by at least 10 per cent between 2015 and 2021.

National labour safety week scheduled for late March

The 18th annual National Week on Labour Safety and Hygiene – Fire and Explosion Prevention will run from March 20-26, with the launching ceremony to be held in the northern province of Hung Yen on March 20.

The event aims to call on all businesses, localities and labourers, by using practical activities, to actively observe the Law on Labour Safety and Hygiene when it comes into effect from July 1 this year.

Along with the organisation of the campaign, the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) urges ministries, localities and sectors to strengthen their monitoring and supervision of the implementation of labour safety and hygiene at enterprises, particularly those operating in high-risk fields such as construction, mining, chemicals and electricity.

The Ministry of Public Security and the Supreme People's Procuracy has instructed their subordinate bodies to work closely with the MoLISA on investigating and handling labour accident cases.

Publicity work is to be enhanced to raise public awareness of the Law on Labour Safety and Hygiene.

On-site supervision and monitoring must be strengthened at workplaces, while labourers should be trained to prevent and avoid industrial accidents, such as falling from heights, electrical shocks, dropping objects, collapses, etc.

According to Director of the MoLISA’s Department of Labour Safety Ha Tat Thang, in 2015, the localities that reported the highest numbers of fatal work related accidents were Ho Chi Minh City, Quang Ninh, Hanoi, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Ha Tinh, Long An, Thai Nguyen and Thanh Hoa.

Dong Nai was the province with the most industrial accidents, while Ho Chi Minh City recorded the most fatal cases, he said at a press briefing on March 4.

The latest statistics showed that 7,620 accidents occurred at work last year, killing and injuring 7,785 workers, and causing a total loss of nearly 154 billion VND (6.87 million USD).

Electronic tolls to cut costs, traffic jams

The installation of electronic toll collection systems (ETCs) at all toll booths is compulsory, Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Hong Truong said at a meeting with investors of the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) project on national highways 1 and 14.

The current collection system at toll stations is slow, and it takes at least 30 seconds for a vehicle to pass through a station. It is the main cause of traffic congestion at toll stations, Truong said on March 2.

For example, he said, traffic congestion still occurs on the Phap Van-Cau Gie Highway despite the fact that it has 16 gates.

Participants at the meeting agreed to the implementation of ETCs at toll booths nationwide for the benefits of people and society.

Vu Quang Lam, a representative of the Tasco Joint Stock Company and the investor of the project to build ETCs, told investors that the money collected will transfer to their accounts on the same day via any bank, he said.

In response to a question raised by Tran Xuan Phu, Director General of Da River Infrastructure Ltd, Lam said Tasco would try its best to repair any problems that occur with the equipment as soon as possible.

Nguyen Manh Thang, Deputy Head of Directorate for Roads of Vietnam, proposed that the Ministry of Transport build an online connection centre between toll stations to ensure transparency.

Deputy Minister Truong has asked investors to install the systems on National Highway 1 and 14 before June 30.

The transport ministry plans to install ETCs at all toll booths nationwide by 2020, he said.

The system is currently operational at three toll stations in Nghe An, Quang Binh and Dak Lak on a trial basis.

Truong urged investors to finish signing the BOT contracts' appendix with the Ministry of Transport no later than this week because it will help establish a plan for the implementation of ETCs in the future. Otherwise, the transport ministry will stop the investors' toll collection, he said.

Experts predicted that the electronic toll system could reduce operating costs by about 3.4 trillion VND (152.4 million USD) each year compared with the current system.

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