Poor workers to get small loans

The Viet Nam General Confederation of Labour has proposed expanding a HCM City-based microfinance fund to help more poor households take out low-interest loans, according to Mai Duc Chinh, deputy head of the conference.

Although the Capital Aid Fund for Employment of the Poor provides small loans averaging VND7 million (US$337) each to millions of poor households, it can meet only 15-20 per cent of demand, said Chinh.

The fund needs more than VND3 trillion (US$144.2 million) from the State budget to provide credit to more than 450,000 poor workers, he said at a workshop held on Tuesday in HCM City.

The confederation is working with the Ministry of Finance on the microfinance expansion proposal, which will be submitted to the Prime Minister for approval.

It targets increasing the number of borrowers by 300,000-400,000 during the 2013-2018 period. It also hopes to establish 40 branches by 2018.

Founded in 1991, the fund has provided credit worth VND10.5 trillion (US$ 505 million) to 1.7 million borrowers, with women accounting for 75 per cent.

Last year, the fund provided credit to 208,000 active borrowers at a monthly interest rate of 0.9 per cent.

Nearly half of all loans are used for trading activities. Loans are also used for housing and sanitation improvement, agricultural cultivation and animal breeding as well as healthcare.

The fund, which is under the HCM City Labour Confederation, operates in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta and southeastern provinces.

‘Unreasonable' insurance plan ignored by farmers

Farming households have shown little interest in joining a pilot programme offering agricultural insurance since it started in seven provinces two years ago.

A total of 47,000 households have paid a total of VND66 billion (US$3.1 million) to join the insurance programme. Another 187,000 poor households have had their fees paid for by the Government.

At a recent workshop in Ha Noi, Deputy Agriculture Minister Nguyen Thi Xuan Thu blamed several clauses in the insurance policy for the low paid enrollments.

For example, she said some diseases, such as bacterial blight and common rice "blast", which often occurred in rice, were not covered. This was also true for haemorrhagic septicaemia and bovine fasciolosis (caused by liver flukes) in cattle and humans.

Head of the Ministry of Finance's Insurance Supervisory Authority Department Trinh Thanh, said agricultural insurance was still new to Viet Nam.

"However, both policy and mechanisms need to be amended if it is to be effectively implemented," he said.

Hoan said this included the policy of only paying compensation to households if the damage was verified as capable of reducing rice productivity in the entire commune.

Deputy Director of Nam Dinh Province's Agriculture and Rural Development Department Nguyen Phung Hoan said that many farming households nearly lost their crop after being hit by Son Tinh Storm last year in the province. However, they received no compensation from the insurance company.

"(These anomalies) are believed to be the reasons farming households are not interested in agricultural insurance," he said.

In response to the situation, Deputy Minister of Finance Tran Xuan Ha blamed the whole situation on a failure to collect proper statistics at the household level.

"This causes unreasonable regulation and difficulties in compensation," he said.

Viet Nam now has over 15.3 million farming households, according to the General Statistics Office.

Danang-Quang Ngai expressway construction gets underway

The Ministry of Transport on May 19 broke ground on a project to build a national expressway from Danang city to central Quang Ngai province.

The 140 kilometres long expressway with four lanes is designed for vehicles travelling at a maximum speed of 120 kilometers per hour. It begins in the Hoa Vang district of Danang and ends in Quang Ngai province with more than 100 small and large bridges and one tunnel in between.

The project is part of the cross-country expressway route and is being built by the Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) at a total cost of nearly US$1.47 billion in loans from the World Bank and official development assistance (ODA) from Japan.

Addressing the ground-breaking, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said the expressway will open investment opportunities, promote socio-economic development and ensure smooth transport in the central region, and facilitate rescue and emergency relief for citizens frequently affected by natural disasters.

He urged contractors and investors to mobilise appropriate human resources and equipment to ensure that the project is completed on time, and meet the set targets and quality standards.

Experts support HPV vaccines in fight against cancer

More than 150 health experts from southern provinces and cities gathered at a workshop held yesterday in central Phan Thiet City to hear the latest research about the treatment of HPV vaccines in fight against cancer(HPV)-related diseases.

At a symposium titled "Connect to Protect", health experts described real cases they had faced in their daily practice.

The use of Pap-screen tests and HPV vaccines are the most effective methods to reduce the number of PHV-related diseases, particularly cervical cancer, in Viet Nam, they said.

Speaking at the symposium, Walia Anuj, medical director of Merch Sharp & Dohme (MSD) in the Asia-Pacific Region, said: "HPV causes many kinds of cancers, such as vulva, vagina, penis, head and neck. It also causes genital warts."

For generations, Vietnamese women have been affected by cervical cancer and other devastating diseases caused by HPV.

Cervical cancer is the second-leading cause of female cancer mortality in Viet Nam, with nine women dying every day.

Worldwide, cervical cancer is also the second-most common cause of cancer death in women, with about 650 women dying every day.

Remains of Vietnamese martyrs repatriated from Laos, Cambodia

Authorities of the Central Highland province of Kon Tum on May 18 held a memorial service for 16 Vietnamese volunteer experts and soldiers whose remains had just been brought back from Laos and Cambodia.

The province’s team found the remains after a six-month search in Cambodia’s Rattanakiri province and three southern Lao provinces of Attapeu, Champassak and Sekong.

After the provincial leaders, Lao and Cambodian delegations and local people offered incense to the fallen soldiers, the remains were buried at the local martyr’s cemetery in Ngoc Hoi district.

Fire destroys nearly 1,000m2 in Song Than IZ

A huge fire raged through the Duy Hung Footwear Company in Song Than Industrial Zone (IZ), Binh Duong province, on May 18.

The blaze later spread to the Shang One Vietnam, which was located next to Duy Hung Footwear.

Local firefighters and hundreds of soldiers were mobilised and nearly 20 fire trucks were needed to distinguish the flames.

The fire was basically controlled after about four hours but a large number of goods, machinery and equipment was destroyed, as well as nearly 1,000m2 of workshops. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.

Rice left on roads endangers traffic

Twice a year, during the harvest season, farmers in the northern mountainous province of Dien Bien place straw and grains to dry them along major highways.

While this raises the risk of traffic accidents, local authorities are reluctant to impinge on residents' livelihoods by doing away with the grains.

"Local farmers depend on the rice, so we cannot remove their products, as they would suffer great losses," said Lo Van Lun, chairman of the Muong Muon Commune People's Committee.

Local authorities have attempted to introduce measures to end the practice – such as by informing them that the act is a violation and can cause accidents – but to little effect.

This year the drying process started last month, with grains stretching along nearly 100km of National Highway 12 between Dien Bien Phu City and Lai Chau Province.

Passing through Dien Bien District's Thanh Nua and Muong Pon communes and Muong Cha District's Muong Muon Commune, drivers can see piles of straw encroaching on the roadbed.

The farmers also burn straw on the side of the road and under electricity poles, despite the risk to drivers.

"I know that drying the straw on the highway may cause accidents, but there's so much rice that I'm forced to dry it here until the rice is plucked off," said Lo Van Binh, a farmer in Pung Giat Village, Muong Muon Commune.

Tong Van Vuong, a farmer in Muong Pon Commune's Co Chay Village, said he did not have any land to dry the rice, so he had to dry it on the highway, even though he knew it violated traffic safety regulations.

Hospital upgrade to cost $23.8mil

The municipal Health Department started a new project yesterday, May 19, to upgrade and expand Ba Vi General Hospital with total investment of VND500 billion (about US$23.8m).

The current hospital in Ba Vi District was constructed 20 years ago and was previously part of the then Health Centre of Ba Vi, a rural district located about 60km west of Ha Noi.

The hospital spans 1.7 hectares and can accommodate only 200 beds. Throughout the years, no major renovations have taken place to meet the rising demand for healthcare.

The plan would upgrade the hospital to meet the requirements of a second-level general hospital specified by the Health Ministry, expecting to expand its coverage to about 4.28 hectares.

Following the first upgrade scheduled for completion in 2015, the hospital should accommodate 400 beds on an area of 2.5 hectares, including an eight-floor for inpatient treatment. The second phase of the project will see constructions of a five-floor building for outpatient treatment and technical training purposes.

According to the head of the Ha Noi Health Department, Nguyen Khac Hien, the plan is part of continued efforts to reduce the overload of hospitals nationwide. The department has requested the hospital to plan hiring and training healthcare staff to meet the new demand.

Workers killed when lift falls 18 floors

Three workers were killed on a construction site in an urban area of Ha Dong District after an elevator apparently felt from the 18th floor to the ground on Saturday morning.

According to co-workers, they heard an extremely loud noise at around 7am. Witnesses said that two of the men died instantly while the other succumbed to his injuries later. Construction activities apparently continued as normal later in the day.

A representative from the subcontractor of Dai Thanh Urban Centre confirmed over the phone that the three victims were hired by a secondary subcontractor and could not verify the identities of the workers.

Two students drowned near construction site

Two elementary students drowned on Saturday in a pond near a construction site in Thot Not District, Can Tho City.

According to local residents, six students were playing ball near the site. A local resident saw the kids fall into the water and was able to rescue four of them.

The construction site belonged to Nguyen Trung Tin of An Giang Province.

Police are investigating the case.

Vietnam-China students hold friendship exchange

A friendship exchange between Vietnamese and Chinese students was held in Beijing on May 18 to mark the 123rd anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh's birth.

Vietnam’s ambassador to China, Nguyen Van Tho, said President Ho Chi Minh spent a long time in China during his revolutionary days where he worked together with President Mao Zedong, Prime Minister Zhou Enlai and other Chinese leaders of the time  to build a friendship of "both camaraderie and brotherhood" between the Chinese and Vietnamese Parties and states.

More than 13,000 Vietnamese students are currently studying in China, Tho said, while expressing hopes that they will be bridges for the Vietnam-China friendship.

During the exchange, students from the two countries asked a number of questions about Uncle Ho.

Professor Chen Kuiyuan, president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said he learned Vietnamese because of his love and respect for President Ho Chi Minh.

In 1962, the Chinese embassy in Hanoi hosted a banquet to welcome a high-ranking Chinese delegation to visit Vietnam, which was the first time Professor Kuiyuan met President Ho Chi Minh and he never forgot the warm feeling he felt at that meeting.

President Ho Chi Minh was not only a great leader of Vietnam, he was also a close friend of China, he said.

A number of activities took place during the student exchange, including a screening of a documentary on President Ho Chi Minh's revolutionary work and singing songs about Uncle Ho, and Vietnamese land and people.

Border guards foil gold smugglers

Border guards at Lao Bao International Border Gate in the central province of Quang Tri discovered a car illegally transporting over 10 taels of gold from Laos to Viet Nam on Wednesday.

The car bore a number plate from Laos. The owner, identified as Hoang Van Han from the central province of Quang Binh, couldn't provide any papers to prove the gold's legality.

Han said that was his first time transporting gold for an acquaintance from Vientiane, the capital of Laos, to Dong Hoi city in the central province of Quang Binh.

On the same day, border guards seized a homemade gun and over 700 bullets from a Thai citizen.

Illegal snakes seized in capital

About 100 kilos of snakes were seized in the capital's Tu Liem District on Thursday afternoon, reports the Ha Noi's Environmental Police.

They were being illegally transported to the city for consumption, the report says.

The copperheads were transported by coach from the south before they were discovered in a hired taxi's trunk at My Dinh station. They had suffocated due to the hot weather, the police said.

The case is currently under investigation.

Southern province gets new hospital

Authorities in the southern province of Hau Giang inaugurated a new general hospital on Friday, May 17, the biggest and most modern in the province.

With 500 sickbeds, the new hospital aims to ensure medical examinations and treatment for those living in the province or in the neighbouring provinces of Kien Giang, Bac Lieu and Soc Trang.

Over VND 650 billion (US$31 million) has been invested in the project since construction began in 2007.

Hydro lake depleted of fish due to ‘poor management'

Fish have become depleted in an artificial lake in northern Dien Bien Province's Dien Bien District due to lack of management and co-operation among vested interest groups while calls for action by local commune leaders and residents have gone unheeded.

Pa Khoang Lake supplies water to the hydro plants of Thac Bay, Na Loi, and Thac Trang as well as most rice fields in the region. Located in Muong Phang Commune, it is about 20km from Dien Bien Phu city, linking the city with the Muong Phang forest where relics of the Dien Bien Phu campaign remain.

It covers 600ha and contains 40 million cubic meters of water with numerous islands and varieties of animals and vegetation.

In the 1990s, the Dien Bien Agricultural and Aquatic Products Management Limited Company was in charge of rearing fish in the lake, which produced 100-120 tonnes of fish per year for the local region.

Fishing in the lake was also a major activity for locals and tourists.

However, since 2004 management of the lake has has been in the hands of several enterprises and authorities, such as the management board of the Pa Khoang Tourism Project, district police and the military command, among which groups there has been a lack of co-operation.

The result has been over-exploitation. The disappointed district People's Committee has twice proposed the lake be put under the management of the Muong Phang Commune to no avail.

Lo Van Tinh, chairman of the communal People's Committee, said that the lake would surely be managed more effectively by the commune authority and residents. "When people directly benefit from the lake, they will protect it," he said.

Tinh said commune leaders would continue to discuss ways to manage the lake while continuing to lobby the higher authorities for the best solution.

France, Vietnam promote medical cooperation

France and Vietnam have a long and effective history of medical cooperation and France has helped train many generations of Vietnamese doctors since the 80s of the 19th century.

Vietnamese Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien made the statement during her official visit to France from May 16-18.

Medical cooperation was officially conducted since they established diplomatic ties 40 years ago and their relationship has continued to grow and flourish after the Agreement on Medical and Pharmaceutical Cooperation was reached by the two governments in February 1993.

Today, more than 1,200 Vietnamese doctors are studying in resident training programmes (FFI). About 300 are currently doing their second apprenticeship and 600 are pursuing other educational programmes in France.

Many medical trainees in France have become leading experts and key managers in the Vietnamese medical sector.

While in France, Minister Tien met with French Minister of Health and Social Affairs Marisol Touraine and Deputy Minister for Development under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pascal Canfin.

Ms. Tien said Vietnam hopes France will agree to sponsor a project to modernize the Hanoi Medical University, continue its training programmes for internists and specialists in diagnostic imaging, testing, surgery, obstetrics, gynaecology and first aid.

Vietnam also hopes France will strengthen basic training in pharmacology, including drug research, bio-technology, immunology and genetics, she said.

During her visit, Minister Tien also attended the Vietnamese embassy’s 40th celebration of Vietnam-France medical cooperation, as well as  the signing ceremony for an agreement between Hanoi Medical University and University Claude Bernard Lyon 1 to exchange lecturers and students, promote joint research, and develop modern medical training programmes in Vietnam.

VNN/VOV/VNS/VNA