Hand-Foot-Mouth disease on the rise

Hand-Foot-Mouth disease will cause significant problems during the coming months, more than 2,100 newly-infected cases having been reported in the past week, according to the Ministry of Health.

Last week a two year old from central Da Nang and a 10 month old from Ha Noi were reported to have died after being hospitalised with typical symptoms of the disease that include high fevers and blisters all over the body.

Ministry figures showed that out of more than 66,300 cases recorded nationwide, 119 had included fatalities.

Southern provinces were hardest hit with 90 per cent of infected patients dying, although the number of newly infected cases had reduced in 'hot' spots such as HCM City and Binh Duong Province.

Director of the ministry's Department of Preventive Medicine, Nguyen Van Binh, called on local authorities to strengthen their grip on the disease, saying that the ministry would focus on stamping it out altogether.

The ministry further urged authorities to increase awareness about the disease and ways to avoid it to prevent its spreading out of control.

Ten outstanding citizens honoured

Photo: VOV

In his opening speech, Chairman of the Municipal People’s Committee, Nguyen The Thao, highlighted the great significance of Hanoi’s liberation on October 10, 1954.

He said right after liberation, Hanoi’s military units and citizens engaged in building socialism in the north while joining efforts in the struggle for southern liberation and national reunification. Later, despite facing a lot of difficulties, Hanoi has recorded major achievements and has become a modern and spacious urban centre.

Among ten outstanding citizens honoured at the ceremony was Vietnam’s leading composer, Pham Tuyen. Pham Tuyen has composed more than 500 songs, including many in praise of the capital city.

Hanoi hast itself set five major tasks with a focus on promoting production and business activities, generating jobs, developing economy sustainbly and rapidly, curbing inflation, and stabilizing the local market and ensuring social welfare.

At the closing ceremony, Pham Quang Nghi, Politburo member and Secretary of the Hanoi municipal Party Committee granted certificates of merit to the ten outstanding citizens.

Cockfight enthusiast not dead from gunshot

An 18-year-old man who was shot in the head by a police officer in Long An Province is not dead as reported earlier.

Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, where Nguyen Phi Hoang was brought subsequently, said yesterday evening, Oct 10, he is in critical condition and being treated.

Hoang was among 30 people at a cockfight in Luong Hoa Commune, Ben Luc District, when district police officers arrived following a tip-off from local residents.

Senior Lieutenant Truong Quoc Thai fired two shots in the air and ordered them to stop running away, but they continued to run and the officers gave chase when two more shots were fired from Thai’s gun. One of them hit Hoang in the head.

In a report to the provincial investigation police department, Thai said he had fallen on the ground while giving chase, and the two bullets had been fired accidentally.

The police are investigating.

Italians build centres for disabled kids

The Italian Gruppo di Volontariato Civile (GVC) Organisation has built seven rehabilitation centres, valued at US$1.3 million, for disabled children in northern Bac Giang Province.

The two-year project received $1.19 million in sponsorship from the European Union, with remaining funds coming from the provincial budget.

Started in 2008, the project was aimed at helping disabled children integrate with their communities while improving their family lives.

According to the provincial Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, the province has an approximate 3,500 disabled children, most of whose families are too poor to afford hospital treatment.

The seven centres were built at hospitals situated in Tan Yen, Hiep Hoa, Luc Nam and Luc Ngan districts, at the provincial rehabilitation hospital, the orphan sponsoring centre and the SOS Village.

Each centre will be equipped to care for 80-90 disabled children per year.

In addition, training courses will be organised to instruct medical staff employed at each centre.

To assist disabled children receiving treatment at home, 1,900 residents have also been trained in rehabilitation methods.

At present, the Luc Ngan District centre is treating five disabled children, three of them are showing excellent progress after only 10 months.

Ha Thi Sang, mother of one of the children, said that she usually had to travel around seven kilometres in order to take her child to the centre.

"Since receiving training, however, I am now able to also treat my child at home," she said.

Project Director Manlio Taglioli praised the centres' combination of oriental treatment with modern practises in caring for the disabled.

Australian navy on goodwill visit

Australian naval vessels HMAS Huon and HMAS Yarra arrived in Sai Gon Port yesterday, Oct 10, for a five-day goodwill visit to Viet Nam.

The 50 officers and sailors aboard each minesweeper will meet with senior officers and sailors of the Vietnamese People's Navy for a professional exchange on mine-hunting techniques and a range of other goodwill activities, according to a press release from the Australian embassy in Ha Noi.

The crew will also take part in sporting activities with cadets at the Naval Technical College and play Australian - Ruled Football against the Viet Nam Swans at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, HCM City Campus.

Group Captain Matthew Dudley, Australia's defence attache in Viet Nam, said: "This is an excellent opportunity to build upon the Australia – Viet Nam defence relationship that commenced in 1999."

12 million Vietnamese suffer from mental problems

The number of sufferers of mental disorders in Vietnam accounts for 15 percent of its 86 million-strong population or 12 million, said Prof. Duong Quang Trung, director of the Community Health Research and Development Institute.

Trung cited a national survey which was conducted last year by the Central Mental Hospital No 1 in Hanoi.

Primary students, university students, breast-feeding women, and businesspeople accounts for high proportions of the number of people suffering from various mental disorders, Trung said.

Common mental problems found in the survey include depression, oversleeping, addiction, panicking, over-anxiousness and emotional disorders, he said.

The government has since last year spent about VND70 billion (US$3.3 million) on the projects to protect mental health, but these projects only focus on patients who have already lost their ability to work and integrate into society, the professor said.

Therefore, it is necessary to design projects that help the public prevent factors that can give rise to mental disorders or illness, he suggested.

ASEAN Medical Device Product Working Group meets in Hanoi

The 14th meeting of the ASEAN Medical Device Product Working Group (MDPWG) and related meetings is being held in Vietnam from October 10-14.

The meetings aim to discuss the roadmap for international integration in the field and provide an opportunity for managers, producers and suppliers of healthcare equipment to learn about the commitments and other issues related to the integration process. They also offer an opportunity for the participants to seek partners for mutually beneficial cooperation.

On October 10, the third private-public forum on “managing and ensuring quality of medical devices” was held in Hanoi. Deputy Minister of Health Cao Minh Quang emphasized that in recent years, Vietnam’s healthcare system has been improved thanks to investment in equipment upgrade. Modern medical devices have helped stamp out many diseases and ensure public health.

At the forum, the working group focused on the standardization of medical equipment, regulations for product certification and a quality management system.

Two other ASEAN MDPWG meetings will be held on October 12 and 13. 

Alleged murderer also on theft charge

The man charged with the murder of three people at a gold shop in the northern province of Bac Giang in August has been also been charged with appropriating a motorbike.

Le Van Luyen, who was 17 at the time of the killings, borrowed his uncle's motorbike and pawned it before the murder, which prosecutors alleged was one of the factors that led to the crime.

Luyen, now 18, killed the couple who owned the Ngoc Bich gold shop and their 18-month-old daughter. He also cut off the hand of the couple's oldest daughter, aged 9, which was later reattached by surgeons.

IBM to help Danang become a smarter city

The IBM Corporation will be an important partner of the central city of Danang in providing advice on building and developing its information technology (IT) infrastructure.

This is part of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on strategic cooperation signed between Danang and the IBM Corporation on October 10 towards realizing the city’s vision of a smarter city.

Under the MOU, Danang will use IT as a tool to deal with challenges such as traffic control, water resources management, food security, information and communication, healthcare and high technology. A management centre will be set up to support the municipal authorities in making appropriate and timely decisions.

IBM will gather information and data on the city’s traffic infrastructure and provide a five, ten, and 15 year forecast and analysis.

It will also assist Danang in tracing food origins, issuing warnings about food from areas afflicted with epidemics, and providing information about food that may contain a high level of pesticides or chemical residue.

Signing the MOU shows Danang’s efforts to cooperate with high-tech companies to overcome the challenges of urban development and ensure the most effective management of public services and resources.

Nam Dinh names street for Nobel winner Le Duc Tho

The Nam Dinh Province people’s committee and party committee has named a road after the late Politburo member and Nobel Prize winner Le Duc Tho to commemorate his 100th birth anniversary, and began work on a memorial for him.

Tho, who was also secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam central committee and head of its Commission for Organization, was a native of the northern province.

Many senior officials attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the memorial, including Politburo member and standing member of the central party secretariat, Le Hong Anh, and another member of the secretariat and head of the central party committee’s Commission for Propaganda and Education, Dinh The Huynh.

A memorial house and stele, a worship place, a reception area, gardens, and a semicircular lake will be built.

The ceremony was followed by the renaming of the road which runs through Nam Truc District where Tho was born.

Tho (October 10, 1911 – October 13, 1990) was an outstanding student of President Ho Chi Minh and a prominent leader of the Vietnam Communist Party, Huynh said at a symposium held yesterday in Nam Dinh highlighting his life and revolutionary career.

In 1973 Tho was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Vietnam’s only winner so far, but he declined it saying Vietnam was at war.

VNN/VOV/VNS/Tuoi Tre