10 mil school children in Vietnam receive dental care: Minister  

The oral health care program for school children in Vietnam has been quite successful with nearly 10 million children receiving dental care, said the Health Minister at a conference in Hanoi from November 9-11.  

Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien was speaking at the 6th Asian Conference for Oral Health Promotion for School Children in Hanoi.

She said that the dental care program had been implemented in communes across the country and presently nearly 10 million children were receiving dental care.

The national health policy lays great emphasis on oral health care amongst school children, however there are constant challenges and difficulties in implementation, said Minister Tien.

Only 30 percent of the districts in the country have dental care facilities in hospitals.

Dental health researchers and administrators presented new methods in dental care for school children at the 6th Asian Conference for Oral Health Promotion for School Children. Over 400 delegates from 20 countries attended the conference, themed “Oral Health for School Children: New Challenges and New Solutions”, the first international dentistry conference that has been held in Vietnam.
 
Civil aviation, police hold anti-terrorist drill at Can Tho Airport  

The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam and the Can Tho police jointly held an anti-terrorist drill at Can Tho International Airport on November 11.  

Deputy Minister Hoang Trung Hai monitored the drill which was practiced in order to fend off any potential terrorist attack, rescue   hostages and defuse bombs.

The terrorists were enacted by 10 people who held the passengers of a plane hostage and demanded US$1 million as ransom and one get away plane.

The security forces were tasked to patrol and suppress the rebels while keeping surveillance of the area. They were also drilled to escort witnesses and prisoners to court.

The entire drill procedure was declared a success.

PM concern for Mekong crops

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has issued an order to carry out several measures in the Mekong Delta to ensure the production of the winter-spring rice crop.
Under the order, authorities must monitor flood levels and repair dykes as well as inner-field irrigation systems and pumping stations.

They also must mobilise forces to pump and drain floodwater out of rice paddies, especially in low-lying areas.

The People's Committee in each province and in Can Tho City must ensure that the cultivation schedule drawn up by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) is followed.

This would prevent flooding at the beginning of planting, and drought and salination near the end.

High-quality rice seed for farmers should also be provided, and the quality and prices of input materials used for crop production must be ensured.

The PM told the People's Committees to continue developing advanced farming techniques and large-scale rice fields in coordination with the State, farmers, scientists and businesses.

Based on the Government's support policies, each province must use its local budget to provide financial support to farmers affected by floods this year so they can plant crops.

MARD will supervise the cultivation schedule, farming techniques, disease prevention and control.

It will also work with localities to monitor crop production and solve production problems.

The Ministry of Finance in co-operation with MARD will estimate the total damage caused by flooding and submit the figures to the Prime Minister, who will approve funds for farmers affected by the floods.

Farmers in the Mekong Delta, the country's rice granary, are to plant about 1,556,800ha for the winter-spring rice crop, according to MARD.

The schedule for planting rice seeds is divided into two periods, one from November 5 to 30 and the other from December 5 to 30.

The current difficulty of the winter-spring rice crop is that the Delta's upperstream provinces are still deep in floodwaters.

If the upperstream provinces plan to grow the crop early, they will have to pump floodwater out of rice paddies. The area of rice paddies to pump floodwater is about 400,000ha.

If the Delta's downstream provinces plant the crop late, their rice paddies could face drought and intrusion of saline water at the end of the crop.

This year's record floods have inundated more than 125,800 houses, destroyed more than 8,000ha of the autumn-winter rice crop and eroded more than 1,500km of dykes, according to the Central Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention and Control.

Anticoagulants aid vascular treatment
 
Anticoagulant therapy is taking an increasingly important role in the effective treatment of vascular disease, according to Dr Pham Nguyen Vinh, medical director of Tam Duc Heart Hospital in HCM City.

Speaking at a press meeting yesterday, Vinh noted that the therapy had become popular in the treatment of occlusive vascular diseases, which have increased in number in recent years in Viet Nam.

Therapeutic use of anticoagulants discourages formation of blood clots within a blood vessel.

This therapy has been used for mechanical heart valve replacement, atrial fibrillation, cardiac arrhythmia, and pulmonary embolism.

Patients with a mechanical heart valve replacement are forced to use anticoagulants for the rest of their life in order to prevent blood clots on the surface of valves, he said.

Seventy-five per cent of patients who received heart valve replacement surgery develop valve thrombosis if they do not use enough anticoagulants after surgery.

The anticoagulant therapy has also been used in the prevention of strokes in patients with acute myocardial infarction, he added.

Vascular diseases and strokes are major causes of death, Vinh said, adding that WHO figures show more than 17 million fatalities globally occur each year due to these diseases.

In Viet Nam, the number of patients with strokes and vascular diseases has been increasing at an alarming level.

At Tam Duc Heart Hospital alone, the hospital has performed heart-valve replacement surgery on nearly 1,000 patients since 2006.

Viet Nam has around 200,000 people who are diagnosed with stroke each year.

Globally, 15 million people die due to stroke each year, including 5 million fatalities and 5 million who have disabilities, Vinh said.

Atrial fibrillation is one of the causes of stroke, in addition to blood clots that prevent blood flow to the brain, he added.

"If patients use anticoagulant therapy, they can prevent stroke in a timely fashion," he said.

The therapy does have side effect and patients must be carefully monitored. Bleeding or a cerebral hemorrhage could occur.

He said that it was important to establish an anticoagulant therapy clinic that provides couselling, including information on proper diet.

Currently, Viet Nam has just one clinic, which is located at his hospital, Vinh said.

Dr Huynh Thanh Kieu, Vinh's colleague, said that figures from anticoagulant therapy clinics in the US and other countries showed that monitoring helped reduce 59 per cent of complications caused by the therapy.

Therapy monitoring also saves on treatment time and costs and improves the life of patients, Kieu said.

Capital gets centre for organ transplants

The Government yesterday approved a National Regulating Centre for Human Organ Transplants to be located in Ha Noi.

In addition to the removal and donation processes, the centre's responsibilities include human organ and tissue regulation among banks of tissues, hospitals and health clinics nationwide.

The law on removal, donation and transplantation of human tissues and organs as well as cadaveric donor stipulates that the centre establish a list of patients who need tissues or organ transplants, manage that list and regulate the removal of tissues and organs.

The centre will also receive people who want to donate their organs and tissues and issue cards for donors.

$106m fund raised for the poor

More than VND2,236 billion (US$106 million) has been collected this year in 32 southern and south-central cities and provinces for the Fund of the Poor, announced the Viet Nam Fatherland Front yesterday.

The Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Hau Giang topped the list with nearly VND422 billion ($20 million) collected, followed by HCM City with VND405 billion ($19.3 million).

The money will be used to help the poor and victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin in the region.

Man killed while trying to cross train track

An unknown man died on the spot after being hit by a train yesterday afternoon on a stretch of railway by Le Duan Street in Ha Noi.

The accident occurred when the man was trying to cross the railway, despite the alarm bell ringing. The man is believed to have been about 60 years old.

The accident caused traffic jams.

Local student fined for plane door stunt

The Ministry of Transport has decided to fine Nguyen Duc Duy, 22, VND15 million ($732) for opening an emergency exit of a plane without permission.

Duy, a third-year student from the Ha Noi University of Natural Resources and Environment, opened the exit when the Vietnam Airlines HCM City-to-Ha Noi flight was preparing to take off last Saturday, causing a two-hour delay.

Huge whale rescued by 1,500 fishermen

Fishermen and members of the border guard came to the aid of a 30-tonne whale which was found aground on Khanh Hoi beach in the southernmost province of Ca Mau yesterday afternoon.

Dozens of fishing vessels carrying about 1,500 fishermen pulled the 23m-long mammal by ropes tied around its head and tail some 10 nautical miles out to sea.

Whales are worshipped along the Vietnamese coast since they are believed to help fishermen as they work at sea.

Heartless Facebook user stirs anger surge

Nguyen Van Linh, who posted an incriminating message on his Facebook status, turned himself in to police in the northeastern city of Yen Baiù on Thursday after his identity was discovered by netizens.

The college student, 20, was the pillion rider of a motorbike that struck and killed a 58-year-old man in a hit-and-run incident on Tuesday. He then posted heartless comments bragging about the incident on the social network, stirring up an overwhelming surge of anger among the Facebook community.

The police said the case was still under investigation.

Tonnes of coal seized in Ha Long City

Over 1,700 tonnes of illegally mined coal has been confiscated by police in the northern province of Quang Ninh's Ha Long City, 10 days after the province launched a campaign to prevent illegal mining.

The police reported on Thursday that 19 illegal coal mines had been shut down and 18 unlawful residents had been forced to leave the region.

Illegal gas extractor caught on the job

Pham Thi Kim Nguyen, the owner of a gas store located on Ben Van Don Street in HCM City's District 4, was caught red-handed illegally extracting gas on Thursday.

The police seized three 12kg gas canisters, one set of gas extraction equipment and 150 mini gas canisters. All of the mini canisters were old and unfit for use.

Authorities tighten grip on illegal forestry exploitation

Authorised agencies have attempted to strengthen measures against rampant and illegal forest exploitation which is forecast to be on the rise near year-end.

Around 350 cases of illegal forest exploitation were found in the north region alone since early this year.

In the same region, nearly 2,400 timber trafficking and trading cases were discovered in the first nine months of the year.

Poachers use chain saws to cut timber so the speed of deforestation is increasing, according to the Agriculture and Rural Development's Forest Management Department.

The illegal exploitation of forests is most common in natural forests, nature reserves and national parks in northern Dien Bien, Bac Kan, Yen Bai and Lang Son provinces, said Do Thanh Hai, head of the department's Forest Protection and Management Division.

"The quantity of illegally trafficked timber was not great, but the value was high because almost all are rare kinds of timber", Hai said.

To earn a living, some local residents work with poachers to illegally trade precious timber, which complicates the situation, he said.

The living conditions are difficult for ethnic minority people who are committed to protecting the forest, said Nguyen Quang Vinh, head of the Yen Bai Province's Forest Management Department.

Each local person receives only VND100,000 ($4.8) to protect one ha of forest, he said. To reduce the situation of deforestation, local authorities are advised to help local people improve living conditions, said deputy head of the Forest Management Department Do Trong Kim.

In a related a move, the Government approved an increase in the number of forest rangers to ensure forest protection activities.

The Forest Management Department is awaiting approval from the ministry for a skills training project for forest rangers and owners.

More parking space sought for public buses

The Centre for Management and Control of Public Transportation wants more parking space for public buses operating in HCM City.

Most buses parked on streets or pavements at night, it said.

But many waiting for their turn to park around the Eastern Bus Station in Binh Thanh District block the road.

According to Phung Dang Hai, general director of the HCM City Union of Transport Cooperatives, space had to be rented at petrol stations and trading centres to park nearly 1,000 vehicles at VND1 million ($48) for each.

The centre also said more bus stations were needed on the city's outskirts to ferry passengers into the city. Its rationale was that short routes offered greater flexibility than long one that were often unwieldy.

It suggested a terminal at Van Thanh intersection in Binh Thanh to pick up passengers arriving from Thu Duc District and District 9, saying this would help take motorbikes off city roads.

Last year the centre and the Department of Transport worked with districts to allocate land for parking buses. Though the parties reached agreement, actual allocation of land has yet to take place.

Penalties raised for driver training slips

Automobile and motorbike driver training centres which issue graduating certificates for trainees without training them properly will not be allowed to enrol new students for six months and directors of the centres will be docked their wages.

The new regulation of the Ministry of Transport is contained in its draft circular of punishment for violating automobile and motorbike driver training centres expected to be submitted for the Government's approval next year. Under the draft circular, driver training centres must use curriculums put out by the Ministry of Transport which ensure the training duration.

The centres must have measures preventing violations of criteria controling enrolment, training, exams, issuing licences and training fee collection and use.

Centres allowed to organise driving tests have to improve their infrastructure and equipment for training and examinations.

The draft circular regulated that if driver training centres did not post their fees in public, centre trainers did not have proper qualifications or driving-school cars did not ensure safety norms, they would receive a warning, suffer enrolment suspension or their training licences would be withdrawn.

Deputy chief inspector of the Ministry of Transport Thach Nhu Sy said a circular issued in 2009 did not suspend violating training centres from enrolment or dock wages of centre directors.

After a number of training centre violations recently, however, the had ministry raised the level of punishment, he said.

During an inspection of 20 random training centres the ministry inspectors discovered many violations.

The Can Tho Vocational School shortened the regulated time for theory lessons from 80-72 hours. At the Viet Duc Vocational School in Lang Son, only 15 per cent of driving-school cars were new whereas it was regulated that 60 per cent of driving-school cars must be new.

Mekong to develop flood-proof housing

Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Tran Nam yesterday asked Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta provinces to speed up work on construction of housing foundations, dykes and infrastructure for flood-proof residential clusters.

Reviewing the results of a national programme on building flood-proof residential clusters in the Delta, Nam said residents living in the clusters had been protected from rising floodwaters in the Delta in the past 10 years.

Nam said the construction of clusters in low-lying areas should be completed on schedule so the people in affected areas could relocate in 2013, as scheduled in the second phase of the programme.

However, the process of building flood-proof residential clusters in provinces under the second phase has been slow, while the provincial authorities said it was due to a capital shortage.

Under the second phase (2008-13), the programme intends to build 178 flood-proof residential clusters with total investment of more than VND3.283 trillion (US$ 157.8 million). At least VND1.398 trillion ($67.2 million) from the central and province budgets and VND1.885 trillion ($90.6 million) from bank loans would be given.

However, capital allocation has been slow. There is a lack of VND582 billion ($27.98 million) from the State budget and more than VND842 billion ($40.48 million) from bank loans have not been implemented yet.

Furthermore, price volatility has led to an increase in the current investment capital, much higher than the earlier calculated capital, especially for site clearance and construction investment.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) has asked province to submit a periodic report on expenses and specific coming plans in order to ensure effective use of investment capital.

The MPI said the provinces should get capital for building dykes from the Government's Flood and Storm Preparedness and Prevention Fund and capital for infrastructure should be collected from businesses.

A representative of the Government Office said the Government would solve a capital shortage next year.

After the cluster completion, localities should manage and balance the local budget annually for maintenance.

Nam said localities should not increase expenses by decreasing the scale of cluster projects.

Attending were officials of the Ministry of Construction, and provincial authorities from An Giang, Kien Giang, Dong Thap, Can Tho, Vinh Long, Tien Giang, and Long An provinces.

Radio broadcast to honour road heroes

The stories of heroes who make significant contributions to road safety will be among the segments of a new twice-weekly radio show on travel and transport on the national Radio Voice of Vietnam and the Voice of HCM City People.

The 30-minute Total-Road Guardian show, starting next Monday, will also feature stories from behind the steering wheel, fond memories of road travels, useful information on transport and essential needs for engines.

It will give away Total-Road Guardian awards nominated by listeners to people strictly following traffic laws, coming up with initiatives to prevent accidents, and taking practical actions to save other people.

The Guardian of the Week will receive a VND2 million ($95) cash award and the Guardian of the Month, VND5 million ($240).

The programme is a brainchild of the National Traffic Safety Committee, VOV Traffic Channel, and VOH Urban Traffic Channel.

Few seek foreign degrees despite funding

Only a handful of people from the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau have enrolled in doctoral or masters degree programmes abroad, despite the fact that funding is readily available.

According to the provincial Interior Department, just 37 people have signed up for programmes over the next five years. Of them, 26 are officials or civil servants and the rest are students.

Launched nearly two years ago, the programme aims to train 150 people with doctoral or masters degrees.

Vietnam-US progress in addressing dioxin issues

Vietnam and the US have taken a further step toward overcoming the consequences of Agent Orange/Dioxin, according to an official of the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA).

Representatives of the US Embassy in Hanoi recently worked with VAVA to inquire into the living conditions of the Vietnamese victims and ways of minimizing the harmful effects of the toxic chemicals, VAVA Vice President Tran Xuan Thu told Vietnam News Agency on November 10.

US officials agreed that health care is one of the embassy’s four priority areas, focusing on providing medical services for the victims and those living in the areas affected by the chemicals.

VAVA leaders welcomed the US’s positive moves, saying the US has provided financial aid to Agent Orange remediation projects in hotspots.   

Currently, VAVA is studying new dioxin detoxification methods for the victims, Thu said, adding that the sauna therapy in Thai Binh province is paying off. He added that the Ministry of National Defence has agreed to build two more detoxification centres at Hospitals No103 and 175.

Philanthropists in Vietnam and around the world are joining hands to assist the Vietnamese victims spiritually and materially. The Vietnamese Embassy in Finland on November 10 handed over 2,050 euros to a VAVA representative to support the victims.

WB programme to help reduce poverty in Vietnam

Vietnam’s Prime Minister on November 11 approved the policy framework for the 10th Poverty Reduction Credit Support programme (PRSC 10) to serve as a basis for the PRSC 10 negotiations with the World Bank (WB) scheduled to take place on the same day in Hanoi.

The negotiation delegation is led by Le Minh Hung, Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam.

PRSC was initiated in Vietnam in 2002 to help the Vietnamese Government implement the Comprehensive Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy, coupled with reform in the fields of socio-economic development and State governance.

WB implements PRSC in developing countries with stable macro-economies and reasonable financial management systems.

Senior citizens play key role in family, society

The potential and knowledge of the elderly are valuable internal strengths of the nation, said Head of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee (CPVCC) Commission for Mass Mobilization, Ha Thi Khiet.

Addressing the 4th Congress of the Vietnam Elderly Association (VEA) in Hanoi on November 11, Ms Khiet emphasized that the elderly have played an important role in family and society. Senior citizens have made an active contribution to the national construction and defense. The recent 11th National Party Congress also set orientations for helping the elderly live a healthy and happy life.

Ms Khiet asked the association to bring the Law on the Elderly to life in the 2011-2016 period, and to conduct research on characteristics of old people in each locality across the country to further promote their role. In addition, she said it is necessary to socialize activities geared at taking care of senior citizens and to finalise the association’s apparatus and draw up its long-term development strategy.

Reviewing the previous term and 16 years of construction and development of the association, Vice President of the VEA, Cu Thi Hau stated that the association has boosted its activities in taking care of the elderly, and welcomed over 86 percent of the elderly to the body.

She also added that in the 2011-2016 term, the association will continue to perfect its mechanism by formulating policies that help improve the living conditions of the elderly and offer more opportunities for senior citizens to become involved in social activities.

Storms kill 7,500 over 10 years

Natural disasters have killed about 7,500 people in Vietnam over the past 10 years, according to a conference themed Methods to assess damages and impacts caused by storms.

The four-day conference, held by the Storm Committee under the World Meteorological Organisation and the Natural Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, attracted more than 70 experts from 13 Asian Pacific countries.

It closed in Nha Trang City in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa on November 11.

Hanoi forum discusses future Australia-Vietnam education

The Australia-Vietnam Future Education Forum was held in Hanoi on November 10.

The event was organized by the Australian Trade Commission in co-ordination with Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training and Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

At the forum, education managers, professors, teachers, researchers and experts from both Australia and Vietnam shared experience in formulating policies for future education and explored opportunities for vocational training centres, colleges and universities.

In particular, they spent much time discussing crafts and skills that Vietnam has high demand in education and training.

The delegates also exchanged views on vocational training programs in Vietnam, models of partnership in hotel management and tourism, and modes of cooperation among universities.

Over the past few years, Vietnam and Australia have strengthened cooperation in education and training. Every year, the Australian government provides more than 200 scholarships for Vietnam.