Over 100 food poisoning workers hospitalised

More than 100 workers of Phan Rang Sugarcane Joint Stock Company in southern Ninh Thuan were admitted to hospital with symptoms of food poisoning such as vomiting, difficulty breathing and low blood pressure.

Doctor Nguyen Ton Kinh Thi, director of Thap Cham Hospital of Transport said the hospital mobilised its staff to treat the patients effectively. At present, some 13 workers are still in serious condition.

Workers were reported to have eaten breakfast at their workplace as their company had purchased 150 meals and several tins of bottled water  for their workers from Hien business nearby.

The cause of the food poisoning incident is under investigation.

First onboard safety drill at Ha Long Bay

A fire safety drill was conducted on tourist boats in Ha Long Bay in the northern province of Quang Ninh on October 6 for the first time.

Police officers from Quang Ninh’s Fire Prevention and Fire Fighting Department, and the Water Way Police Office under the Provincial Police Department, together with the Ha Long Bay Management Board and Syrena Cruise staff took part in the fire practice.  

One fireboat, one rescue boat and 15 firefighters responded to the simulation, in which a cruise ship went up in flames with passengers still on board.

Ten passengers called for help on the left side of the ship, and, led by the captain, escaped through a fire exit and came ashore on a lifeboat.

Three other passengers jumped into the sea and were saved by the bay’s rescue team.

The fireboat arrived at the scene just in time, helping the boat’s crew extinguish the fire within 10 minutes.

According to an officer, the fire drill went smoothly and was a complete success.

Measures taken to search for lost ship

Vietnamese agencies are exerting efforts to search for an oil tanker with 18 people on board that went missing after leaving Singapore for Vietnam several days ago.

Being informed of the news, the Consular Department under the Foreign Ministry sent diplomatic notes to the embassies of Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia in Hanoi asking for their help.

It also asked Vietnam’s representative offices in these countries to work with local agencies to check up information relating to the lost ship.

According to the National Committee for Search and Rescue and the Vietnam Maritime Security Centre, the ship Sunrise 689 of the Hai Phong Seafood Shipbuilding Joint Stock Company left Singapore’s Horizon port in the late afternoon of October 2, carrying over 5,200 tonnes of oil.

It was scheduled to arrive at Con Son island in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province on October 5, but only 40 minutes after the ship left Singapore, the company lost contact with it.

US helps local disadvantaged youths find jobs

The US on October 7 granted US$20,000 to the Da Nang disadvantaged youth (REACH) centre, which specialises in providing vocational training, career advice and job placement services to disadvantaged youths.

The project, which is expected to last from June 15 to December 15, 2014 targets vulnerable youths including those suffering from family violence, human trafficking, poverty and HIV infection or other difficult circumstances.

The US Government funding will provide training courses in such fields as hotels, tourism, hair design and nail art, sales and marketing, website design at REACH branches in Hanoi, Da Nang, Hoi An and Hai Duong.

Addressing a working session at the centre, Ms Claire A. Pierangelo, the Charge d’Affaires, ad interim at the US Embassy in Hanoi, thanked REACH for its support of Vietnam disadvantaged youths. She noted the most important thing is for individuals to have opportunities to become successful in their lives.

Equal opportunity is a US basic value and the reason why the US diplomatic mission is very proud to partner with REACH on the project, she said.

REACH training courses will open up bright prospects for students to get stable jobs. Since 2004, REACH has trained more than 10,000 disadvantaged youths and around 80% of them located jobs within six months.

Hai Phong, Tay Ninh to build solid waste treatment facilities

The Ministry of Construction has proposed the government approve investments in pilot projects for waste treatment plants, seeking to create a foundation for the development of an efficient waste treatment technology industry.

The submitted proposal stipulates the construction of one urban waste treatment facility in Tan Hung commune, Tan Chau district in the southern province of Tay Ninh, and one rural waste treatment facility in Tu Son commune, Hien Thuy district in Hai Phong city in the northern key economic region.

The Tay Ninh facility will cover 10ha of land, with a capital of 138 billion VND (6.49 million USD). The plant will process all kinds of solid waste with a daily capacity of 150-300 tonnes. It will apply bio-technology that has high speed aerobic fermentation and processes the end products into compost fertiliser.

The facility in Hai Phong covers 2,000m2 with a total capital of 5.5 billion VND (250,000 USD). It will process general rural waste with a capacity of 5-10 tonnes a day.

According to the Deputy Minister for Construction, Phan Thi My Linh, the implementation of the pilot projects is crucial for carrying out the national solid waste treatment programme in 2011-2020, in a bid to contribute to Vietnam’s environmental protection and sustainable development efforts.

Outstanding farmers to be honoured this month

As many as 63 farmers from all over the country are to be honoured at a ceremony in Hanoi on October 11 for their outstanding production efforts and contributions to building new-style rural areas.

The award programme, the second of its kind, is co-organised by the Nong Thon Ngay Nay (Countryside Today) newspaper, Binh Dien Fertiliser JSC, and Vietnam Television, the organising board said in a press briefing on October 7.

The event aims to recognise and promote the role of Vietnamese farmers in national construction, defence and development.

The awardees include six rice farmers, six fishermen, two farmers who stood out for their support for building new-style rural areas, and 40 farmers with integrated agricultural production models.

The selected farmers proved their outstanding performance in production and new-style rural area building, said Vice Chairwoman of the Vietnam Farmers’ Association Central Committee Nguyen Hong Ly, who is also head of the organising board.

They also developed practical scientific initiatives and inventions of high economic value, she added.

Also at the press briefing, the organising board granted awards to the winners of a writing contest titled “Outstanding Vietnamese farmer 2014”, selected from nearly 1,000 submissions.

The competition was launched last year by the Nong Thon Ngay Nay newspaper and the Binh Dien Fertiliser JSC launched the writing competition to promote best practices in farming.

Support programme on climate change response amended

The Prime Minister has approved amendments to the framework of Vietnam’s Support Programme to Respond to Climate Change (SP-RCC).

Accordingly, the SP-RCC will continue to run from 2014 to 2020, with funds sourced from preferential or non-refundable official development assistance from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, the French Development Agency, the World Bank, the Export-Import Bank of the Republic of Korea , the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and other development partners.

The programme’s overall objective is to support the development and implementation of strategies, policies and projects designed to effectively respond to climate change impacts in Vietnam.

Concrete targets include assisting the implementation of the National Strategy on Climate Change, the Green Growth Strategy, and strategies for economic sectors on climate change.

The SP-RCC is also intended to support the policy, scientific-technological, and financial measures undertaken by the Government, development partners and private organisations.

The National Committee for Climate Change is in charge of supervising the operations of SP-RCC, while the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the committee’s standing agency, will govern the programme.

Under the SP-RCC, which has been implemented since 2009, more than 200 climate change-related policy measures have been developed and carried out with the joint efforts by development partners and 10 Vietnamese ministries and sectors.

Hanoi’s external information channel launched

The Hanoi Steering Committee for Foreign Information on October 7 officially launched the capital’s external information channel at the address of http://hanoitimes.com.vn.

The channel was upgraded from the Economic and Urban Newspaper’s English electronic information page Hanoitimes. It provides visitors with continuously-updated information, a map of the entire city and its tourism sites, hotels and restaurants.

It is also expected to help correct untrue information and promote investment and international cooperation as well as connect Hanoi with international friends and overseas Vietnamese.

Speaking at the launch ceremony, Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen The Thao said the debut of the channel is part of the city’s efforts to improve its State management efficiency.

He expressed hope that it will contribute to promoting images of the capital’s land and people as well as its history, culture and socio-economic achievements to the world.

Deputy PM urges building of plans for super storms

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has urged all ministries, sectors and localities to draft their own response plans for strong and super strong storms by June next year at the latest.

Chairing an online conference on coping with super storms on October 7, the Deputy PM particularly reminded provinces and cities nationwide to put in place plans to evacuate local residents in case strong storms approach.

Deputy PM Hai requested the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) to update and make public research results on coastal regions’ vulnerability to storms and floods, possible damages of storms on infrastructure projects and residential houses.

The ministry is also required to enhance its capacity of forecasting storms and possible consequences.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is instructed to build a map on the level of floods in cities and provinces caused by rising water levels as a consequence of strong and super strong storms. The map will be transferred to ministries and local governments to serve the building of response plans.

At the same time, Deputy PM Hai stressed that communications activities to enhance public awareness about the risks of strong and super strong storms are one of the most important solutions to cope with the natural disaster.

The MoNRE reported that the coastal region can be divided into five areas subject to different levels of storm impacts depending on the storm season, the frequency of storms and the rainfall caused by storms. Among the five areas, the Quang Ninh-Thanh Hoa region in the north has been hit by super storms reaching Level 15.

According to the ministry, the coastal regions of Quang Ninh-Thanh Hoa, Nghe An-Thua Thien-Hue and Da Nang-Binh Dinh face the risk of storms of Level 15 and 16, while the Phu Yen-Khanh Hoa region can be hit by storms at Level 14 and 15.

Participants at the meeting also heard reports on the implementation of construction regulations in storm-vulnerable areas and guidance on preparations to cope with strong and super strong storms.

Two more arrested for baby deaths

The central Quang Tri province's police have arrested two more persons for their involvement in the deaths of three babies at the Huong Hoa commune hospital last year.

The hospital's Vice Director Nguyen Van Thien and nurse Tran Thi Hai Van have been charged with "irresponsible behavior that had serious consequences." The three babies died after they were given Esmeron, an anaesthetic drug, instead of the Hepatitis B vaccine by nurse Nguyen Thi Thuan on July 20, 2013.

Thuan was arrested on March 27 this year.

The municipal Health Department has decided to cancel results of a bid won by Viet Nam Pharma for the supply of three medicines – Sustonit, Bipando and Peptan.

This follows an earlier cancellation of bidding results won by the same pharmaceutical company for four other medicines.

The department reviewed results of the latest bidding, carried out in May this year, after the General Director of the HCM City-based company, Nguyen Manh Hung, was arrested last month for allegedly smuggling the medicines and forging bidding documents.

The move also followed reports of contradictions in the bidding process itself. It was reported that some of the medicines could only be imported for use at a number of hospitals, but the bids had been held for supply to the market as a whole.

Last week, after reviewing winning bids for 38 different medicines, the department had cancelled bidding results for four medicines - Bicnu, Erwinase, Sodium Bicarbonate and Digoxin.

Department director Nguyen Tan Binh has asked relevant agencies to nullify the results, end contracts and strictly punish violating bidders.

Meanwhile, the Drug Administration of Viet Nam has announced it was revoking the registration of seven medicines by Viet Nam Pharma, saying information given to the administration did not match that carried by the labels on the actual products.

Hand, foot, mouth cases fill hospitals

When the mother of eight-month-old Le Hung Khai of Tien Giang Province noticed that her son had a high fever and mouth sores, she suspected the cause was hand, foot and mouth disease.

After taking him to the HCM City Pediatrics Hospital No.1 in District 10, doctors confirmed the diagnosis.

It was the second time that he had had the disease. The first time was when he was only two months old.

When Khai was admitted to the hospital, the neurology and infectious disease ward had no vacant beds.

"Six or seven children were sharing a bed," the mother, who declined to be named, said.

To help their child rest more comfortably, some parents had bought mats and placed them in a hallway in the ward.

In recent weeks, the hospital has seen an uptick in the number of patients with the disease.

Yesterday, the ward treated 80 children with the disease, while only 50 were admitted over the last two weeks.

Truong Huu Khanh, the ward's head, said this was the peak season for the disease, which will continue through December.

Both parents and doctors are taking a precautionary attitude toward the disease and admitting more patients after one child in HCM City died.

At the Peadiatrics Hospital No.2, the number of hospitalised children on October 1 doubled compared to the previous two weeks.

The city's Preventive Health Centre said in August, 519 children were diagnosed with the disease but the number increased to 799 in September.

Most of them were in districts 6, 8, Tan Phu, Tan Binh and Binh Thanh.

Since the beginning of the year, there have been nearly 6,800 cases, an increase of 19 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Hand, foot and mouth disease is a common viral illness among children under 5 years old.

More than 90 per cent of children diagnosed with the illness recover without treatment, but for more serious cases, complications such as pulmonary edema or paralysis can occur. And in rare cases, some even die.

Khanh said that parents should learn the signs of the disease and take their children to the hospital for tests.

If they have the virus, then they should stay at home until they recover to avoid transmission, Khanh said

"It is very important that everyone wash their hands with soap and water, and clean and disinfect toys and the floors frequently," he added.

Beer products should not be served in places where the temperature is higher than 30 degrees Celsius, the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade has suggested, the latest in a series of controversial propositions it put forward about beer management.

While its other draft decree which oversees the sales of alcoholic products still generates opposition from beer makers and sellers, the ministry continues introducing the draft of another fiat, intended to ensure food safety in beer making and selling places.

Beer selling locations strictly follow regulations stipulated by the Ministry of Health for the sake of food safety, the trade industry demanded in the draft legislation.

These places must also be equipped with ventilation or air-conditioning systems to make sure that the temperature there will not be higher than 30oC, according to the document.

The ministry also set out detailed rules on how beer serving facilities should store their products.

Specifically, beer must be stored in a position that is at least 15cm away from the floor, while the respective proximities between it and the wall and ceiling are 30cm and 50cm, according to the draft legal document.

For those that serve bia hoi (fresh beer), they must have specific equipment to keep the beer cold all day, the ministry said.

Drinking beer in open spaces such as on the sidewalk or in beer gardens is most preferred by beer lovers in Vietnam.

The highest temperatures in Ho Chi Minh City this week have been around 31oC to 34oC, whereas the range for Hanoi is from 31oC to 32oC, according to data from weather forecasting service AccuWeather.

The new draft decree on beer safety was immediately confronted with a wave of objections from members of the public, who said it is yet another draft that lacks feasibility.

“I bet the draft composers always drink beer in air-conditioned rooms,” a reader commented on Tuoi Tre (Youth) Online.

“So all beer selling places would have to install air cons in the summer to comply with the rule,” the readers mocked.

Earlier this month, the Light Industry Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade took a proposed ban on selling beer on the sidewalk and several other controversial propositions out of another draft decree on beer production and consumption management.

The tentative ban was dropped after the department received negative feedback from beer businesses and associations.

The draft fiat no longer contains the clause that prohibits beer from being sold on the sidewalk, as well as stipulations that ban beer sales to people showing signs of being under the influence, or pregnant and breastfeeding women.

But it preserves the proposition that beer companies must place stamps on their products to fight counterfeits, warn drinkers of alcohol abuse, and prevent tax evasion, which local breweries have gone on deeming as a “costly regulation.”

It would cost Vietnamese breweries VND1.6 trillion (US$75.31 million) a year only to place stamps on their products, according to industry insiders.

Binh Dinh keen to extend large-scale fields

The central province of Binh Dinh aims to expand the size of its agricultural cultivation area to comprise 250 large-scale fields by 2015, with 230 paddy fields on 10,000ha, according to a conference organised by the provincial People’s Committee on October 6.

To ensure the target is met, the locality plans to create a value chain from production to processing. This would establish connections between partners in supply, consumption and production in an effort to lower production costs and increasing yields and quality for farmers.

In 2014, a total 233 large-scale fields covered an area of 9,720ha, involving more than 58,000 local households.

Rice farmers earned 25 million VND (1,190 USD) and 23.6 million VND (1,123 USD) per hectare for the 2013/2014 winter-spring crop and the 2014 summer-autumn crop, respectively. Overall, they earned 16 percent more than farmers who do not take part in the large-scale production programme.

In addition to rice, the large-scale production area also generated higher profits for other crops, such as peanuts, corn and cassava.

Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Ho Ngoc Hung said the large-scale field production model attracted the active participation of local farmers and enterprises.

Hung added that small-scale fields in the region hindered the new production model, with each individual cultivating only 0.5ha of land, and instead proposed families work with others to form larger areas to cultivate a specific crop.

Vice Chairwoman of the provincial People’s Committee Tran Thi Thu Ha highlighted the programme’s performance, using the farmer-enterprise partnership model and advanced technology.

She also highlighted the need to develop effective policies and measures for the sector’s growth.

Thai Binh mobilsies over 6.3 trln VND for new rural building

The northern province of Thai Binh has so far this year invested more than 6.3 trillion VND (approximately 300 million USD) in building new-style rural areas, according to the provincial Steering Committee for the National Target Programme on New-Style Rural Area Building.

Out of the total, 1.7 trillion VND (81.8 million USD) was allocated from the State budget, with another 550 billion VND (26.2 million USD) from the joint fund for other projects and programmes, and the rest from members of the public.

By the end of September 2014, all communes in Thai Binh submitted their new-style rural building plans. So far, 20 communes in the province have been recognised as new-style rural areas.

According to Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Pham Van Ca, if the registered communes fail to achieve their targets by the end of 2014, the province will stop funding and terminate support to them in years to come.

Between now and the year-end, the provincial Steering Committee will review which communes meeting all the 19 criteria. It is expected that the province will have more 52 communes recognised as new-style rural areas by the end of this year, raising its total number recognized communes to 72, exceeding the target of 70 by the end of 2015.

The national target programme, launched in 2010, defines 19 criteria, including measures to build infrastructure, improve production capacity, build public facilities, protect the landscape and environment, and promote local traditions and cultural identities.-

Workshop seeks to promote environment industry

Experts have underlined the need to develop the environment industry in order to better control pollution and repairing environmental degradation in the country at a recent workshop-and-fair on environmental industrial products in Hanoi.

A representative from the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Department of Science and Technology said the environment industry has taken shaped in the country five years after the Prime Minister’s approval of a project on the environment industry to 2015, with a vision to 2025.

The industry has met part of the demand regarding waste treatment and protection of land and water environment, he said, stressing that the rising pressure in environmental protection requires a greater involvement of the private sector in developing environmental technologies and equipment as well as offering related services.

Surveys conducted by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment show the country’s 16 economic sectors need an estimated 7.6 billion USD in investment in environmental protection. However, only a small number of businesses, mostly small-and medium-sized enterprises, have registered to supply urban and industrial waste water treatment services.

Only 6 out of 63 provinces and cities nationwide have waste water treatment plants, and just 105 among 283 operational industrial parks across the country have concentrated waste-water treatment plants, which are able to meet around 34 percent of the real demand.

About 1.5 billion cu.m of untreated waste water, most from urban areas and industrial parks, are directly discharged into the environment each year, said Dr. Do Huu Hao, Chairman of the Vietnam Environment Industry Association.

He added that urban areas discharge about 30,000 tonnes of solid waste every day but only 83 percent of which are collected and treated. The rate is just 50-60 percent for rural areas, which generate a combined 5,000 tonnes a day. The most common treatment method is burying in duping sites, with 85 percent of the total solid waste being disposed this way.

The workshop also provided a venue for participating enterprises to introduce their latest products and technologies in the field.

Health Ministry uses standby fund for Ebola prevention

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has allowed the Ministry of Health to proactively use its standby fund created for countering epidemics in 2014 for preventive measures against Ebola epidemic, which has caused over 3,400 deaths in West Africa so far.

The sum, worth 7.34 billion VND (345,000 USD), will be used to build up communications and technical materials, organise training, drill and quarantine activities, and purchase chemicals and protection gear.

Earlier on September 27, the Hanoi Department of Health held an exercise to prepare medical staff for a possible Ebola outbreak in case the virus enters Vietnam.

Meanwhile, a short training course on preventive measures and responses against Ebola virus was organised in the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong from September 22-27.

Local authorities have built action plans to contain the disease in case of its outbreak while keeping a close watch on tourists and Vietnamese guest workers who have returned home from the Ebola-hit areas.

The Ministry of Transport has launched a plan against possible petechial fever caused by Ebola virus with a goal of early detecting infections in the sector, preventing the epidemic from spreading and minimising deaths.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has also issued an action plan to prevent the virus, which poses a high risk of entering the country via tourists, and at the same time encouraged Vietnamese people to travel at home.

The Ministry of Public Security affirmed that its clinics have prepared medicine, equipment, isolation areas and workforce in case of any Ebola outbreak.

Ebola can cause fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, organ failure and internal and external bleeding. The earlier the virus is detected and the symptoms are treated, the higher the chance of survival is, according to the World Health Organisation.

The current outbreak of Ebola, which is spread via contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person, such as sweat and blood, has taken the lives of 3,439 people out of 7,478 cases across five West African nations -- Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Senegal -- according to the latest WHO tally.

No Ebola infections have been reported in Vietnam so far.-

GEF national dialogue held in Hanoi

The Global Environmental Facility (GEF) in Vietnam held a national dialogue in Hanoi on October 7, with the aim of developing programmes and activities for the 2014-2018 period that marks the GEF’s 6th cycle (GEF-6).

Tran Hong Ha, Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Victoria KwaKwa, the World Bank’s Country Director for Vietnam, and William Ehlers, Head of External Affairs at the GEF, hosted the dialogue.

Vietnamese and foreign experts from relevant agencies, organisations and institutions focused on the GEF-6 targets and programmes and identified Vietnam’s priorities for the four-year period.

These priorities include boosting the country’s coordination of GEF operations, exchanging lessons learned from project implementation, and integrating GEF efforts into national planning frameworks.

According to the World Bank’s Country Director Victoria KwaKwa, Vietnam is the first nation to host a national dialogue on GEF-6.

The World Bank and the GEF will continue to support Vietnam, especially in the field of environmental strategy and policy, to strengthen its position at global environment forums, she added.

The GEF has invested a total of 130 million USD in 51 national and 42 regional projects.

It has enabled the country to tackle numerous environmental issues, such as biodiversity loss, climate change and water pollution.

The GEF is a partnership for international cooperation, with 183 countries collaborating with international institutions, social organisations and the private sector, in an effort to address global environmental issues.

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