Organ transplants a success

Viet Duc Hospital on Monday succeeded in carrying out four internal organ transplants, according to the hospital's director Nguyen Tien Quyet.

The organs were from a 30-year-old man who suffered brain paralysis after a traffic accident. His heart, liver and kidneys were donated to four patients from Ha Noi, Vinh Phuc and Thai Binh provinces.

Thanks to the efforts of 150 doctors and medical personnel, the patients were all in recovery two days after their operations.

Ten Vietnamese fishermen in Thai custody

The Foreign Ministry of Thailand has officially confirmed that 10 crew members of fishing vessel CM 99219 TS which sank in the Gulf of Thailand earlier this month were arrested by a Royal Thai naval ship.

The fishermen, from southernmost Ca Mau province, were arrested on January 2 for allegedly violating Thailand 's territorial waters, said the ministry.

They are currently being held in custody at a police station in Thailand 's Trat province.

The Thai ministry agreed to allow a representative from the Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand to make a consular visit to help the fishermen.

Earlier, on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Retreat held in Cambodia 's Siem Reap province on Jan. 11, Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh made a direct mention of the case to his Thai counterpart Surapong Tovichakchaikul.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand is actively working with relevant agencies in Thailand and taking the necessary citizen protection measures to find a solution to the case.

The ship sank after being hit by a foreign ship on January 2 with 11 members on board. Its captain was rescued by another fishing boat.

Fire destroys 22 homes in Soc Trang

My Quoi Market in southern Soc Trang Province's Nga Nam District caught fire yesterday, destroying 22 homes and damaging 40 others.

Total damage is estimated at up to VND3 billion (US$143.000).

According to Nguyen Dong Pha, chairman of My Quoi Commune's People's Committee, many market goods were combustible, including plastic, clothes and cooking-oil.

Lunar New Year celebrated abroad

The Vietnamese Embassy in Laos hosted a diplomatic banquet in Vientiane on January 17 in celebration of the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival.

Lao Vice President Bounnhang Volachith and Deputy Prime Minister cum Foreign Minister Thongloun Sisoulith were among guests to the event.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos Ta Minh Chau said 2012, named the Vietnam-Laos Friendship and Solidarity Year, is a special year for the two countries’ relationship as it marks the 50 th anniversary of diplomatic ties and 35 years since the signing of the Vietnam-Laos Friendship and Cooperation Treaty.

He took the occasion to thank the Lao Party, State and people for their support for the Vietnamese community in the country.

Deputy Prime Minister cum Foreign Minister Thongloun Sisoulith congratulated Vietnam on successes it has gained over the past year, expressing belief that under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the Vietnamese people will harvest greater successes in the future.

On the same day, the Vietnamese Embassy in the US organised a ceremony to welcome the Year of the Dragon. The event drew the participation of more than 300 Vietnamese people who are living, working and learning in the US .

On January 15, the Vietnamese Embassy in Mexico also held a Tet celebration for the local Vietnamese community.

Army TV channel to be launched

The Vietnam People's Army will launch its own television channel in 2012 to broadcast nationwide, according to the Ministry of National Defense.

The channel will focus on national defense activities, as well as other aspects of every-day life.

In recent years, the Political Academy under the Ministry of National Defense has trained many reporters to work for the channel.

Earlier in December 2011, the Public Security Ministry officially launched the An Ninh (Security) Television Channel (ANTV), which broadcasts round the clock in both Vietnam and a number of foreign countries.

Beware of poisoning from liquor during Tet

As the Tet (Lunar New Year) is just several days ahead, the Food Safety and Hygiene Department has warned everybody to take precautions against alcohol poisoning from poor quality liquor.

Tet holidays are the period when the consumption of liquors increases sharply, so everyone should be careful not to get poisoning from liquors of poor quality, said Dr Lam Quoc Hung, head of the department’s Food Poisoning Control Division.

Last year 63 people got poisoning from liquor nationwide and 7 of them died, accounting for 25 percent of the death toll of food poisoning, he said.

In their recent inspections at many manufacturers of liquor, inspectors found excessive contents of aldehyde, furfurol, and methanol contents in several kinds of liquor. Of the three substances, methanol is the most dangerous as it may cause more deaths than the two others, he said.

A recent survey in 20 provinces and cities showed that there have been 800-900 kinds of liquor put for sale on the market, of which many were produced by household breweries, most of which did not apply product quality standards.

Another finding in the survey is that many consumers do not require household breweries to provide them with product quality information.

It is hard to visually differentiate liquor made from methanol and from rice or cassava, but their tastes can help. The liquor rich in methanol usually tastes more bitter than the others.
Also, it is usually absorbed faster by the body, so a drinker may get a feeling of lightheadedness after drinking just some cups of it.

Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol, is a chemical with the formula CH3OH. It is poisonous, and so the industrial methylated spirits is unfit to drink, the department said.

According to the statistics from the department, the number of poisoning cases from industrial alcohol has sharply increased in 2008-2011 compared to 2000-2008, and the number of mental patients due to alcoholic addiction has also risen four times since four years ago.

Drinkers of spirit with methanol content of 0.05 percent or higher may suffer blindness or die, Hung warned.

It is not advisable to drink spirit with alcohol content of 30 percent or higher or to drink more than 30 ml per day, he added.

VNN/VOV/VNS/Tuoi Tre