VFF congratulates Buddhist Sangha on 30th anniversary

Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Deputy Chairman Ha Van Nui on October 31 congratulated the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) on its 30th anniversary (November 7).  

The VFF highly values the VBS’s role and its positive contributions to the common cause of national development and construction, Mr Nui told Most Venerable Thich Thanh Nhieu, Vice Chairman of the VBS Executive Council.

The VBS has become an active member of the bloc of great national unity, stressed Mr Nui.

He expressed his hope that the VBS will perform a greater role as a member of the VFF in encouraging monks, nuns and Buddhist believers to follow Party policies and State laws and taking an active part in national emulation campaigns.

Most Venerable Nhieu expressed his gratitude to the VFF’s support in recent years.

The same day, VFF Chairman Huynh Dam visited VBS Executive Council Chairman, Most Venerable Thich Tri Tinh, and VBS Executive Council Vice Chairman, Most Venerable Thich Tri Quang in Ho Chi Minh City.

Rotten animal organs seized in Ho Chi Minh City

Two vans carrying around 870 kg of rotten animal organs were seized in Ho Chi Minh City Tuesday.

The animal quarantine station in Thu Duc District first found 12 cartons with nearly 640 kg of rotten, stinking buffalo and cow legs.

The van’s driver, Nguyen Van Dung, 31, of central Thanh Hoa Province, failed to produce any documents for them.

The station seized the meat.

A couple of hours later, the officials examined another van and found more than 230 kg of cow organs, including intestines and tripe, which were also rotten and foul-smelling.

The driver again had no documents and said he had been hired by a man to transport it from the central city of Da Nang.

Earlier, on Monday the Dak Lak Province environmental police, acting on a tip-off, caught local men Huynh Cu, Pham Phu Vu, and Mai Xuan Buoi with live wild animals on their motorbikes in Ea Rok Commune, Ea Sup District.

The animals included snakes, monitors, weasels, and wild boars.

The men told the police they were transporting the animal to the capital Buon Me Thuot but had no documents for them.

Cu said he had bought the animals on the Cambodia border.

The police seized the animals.

Da Lat man’s 90-kg tumor bleeding from crack

The Da Lat man with a 90-kg tumor in his right leg has been bleeding severely from a 5cm-long crack in the growth, his brother told Tuoitrenews.

Nguyen Duy Hai developed the crack because the tumor “stretched,” doctors at the town’s Hoan My hospital, who bandaged it, said.

Dr Tran Si Tuan of the Ho Chi Minh City-based Tumor Hospital’s surgical department II, who recently treated Hai, told Tuoitrenews that the wound would neither affect his health nor the scheduled surgery on November 18.

Hai said he was waiting anxiously for the operation, which is expected to last 10-12 hours.

Dr Le Hoang Minh, director of the Tumor Hospital, said Prof McKay McKinnon, an American plastic surgeon, would bring a team of US for the surgery.

He was optimistic it would be a success.

Hospital claims it does not turn poor girl away

After a video clip was posted on the internet insinuating that the central Quang Ngai Province-based Dang Thuy Tram Hospital of turning away a 10-year-old girl, Luong Thi Kim Thuy, who suffered perforated appendicitis, the hospital’s leader has dismissed it as sheer defamation.

Talking with VnExpress Newswire yesterday, Vo Thanh Tan, director of Dang Thuy Tram Hospital, said he had requested the police’s help in finding the poster of the clip that intentionally damaged the hospital’s image and reputation.

Tan said the hospital was checking the performance of the medical team that received Thuy on October 22. “We will punish anyone who committed any wrongdoings.”

On October 23, a clip titled "Doctor and Money” was posted on YouTube by a user nicknamed “duyhoa.dieuhuyen” who noted that the clip had been recorded at Dang Thuy Tram Hospital.

The 4-minute clip showed a little girl suffering pain from appendicitis and a man quarreling with a doctor who told him that the girl’s insurance card had expired. The clip also showed the man and the doctor entering into a debate about hospital fees.

In addition, the clip included its author’s comments that spoke ill of the hospital.

The clip triggered a wave of indignation among netizens who claimed that the hospital put money above the life of a patient in need of emergency treatment.

In response, Dr. Tan told VnExpress that a man with strong alcohol smell who called himself Cam and the girl’s father took her to the hospital on October 22. After examining her, the doctor at the hospital diagnosed Thuy to suffer appendicitis and then decided to initiate a procedure to transfer her to Quang Ngai Province General Hospital for surgery.

While Thuy was waiting for the paperwork to be completed, Dr. Ha, who found the patient’s insurance card was expired, asked Thuy’s sister – who came to hospital at that time – to bring the patient’s new card, if any, when coming to the Quang Ngai Province General Hospital, to enjoy a reduction in treatment charge, Tan said.

Cam then quarreled with Dr. Ha as he thought that the hospital wanted to collect the hospital fee before it could treat Thuy, Tan said.

“It is false to say the hospital refused to treat the patient because her insurance card was expired or because she had no money,” the director said.

According to the Quang Ngai Province Health Department’s regulations, under-12-year-old patients who need to be anaesthetized must be transferred to a province-level hospital, since anaesthetization on patients of that age is very complicated and required specific equipment and technique, Nguyen Van Diep, deputy director of the hospital, explained.

Luong Van Thanh, Thuy’s father, told VnExpress that he had asked Cam, an acquaintance, to take Thuy to Dang Thuy Tram Hospital, because he had to borrow some money first and would come to the hospital later.

Talking with the newswire, Cam said, “After a long wait in the hospital’s corridor, I stepped into the emergency room to visit Thuy. I found her lying on a sickbed crying painfully with her hands on her abdomen. I thought that no doctors had examined her, so I asked a nurse to give me a hospital transfer note for her. While we were waiting for an ambulance, a doctor came and said the girl’s insurance card was expired. Thinking that the hospital refused to treat the girl only due to the expiration of her insurance card, I had a quarrel with the doctor.”

The Quang Ngai Province General Hospital later confirmed that Thuy suffered peritonitis and perforated appendicitis. The doctors then performed an urgent surgery on her.

One day later, the girl’s father took her valid insurance card to the hospital to complete the procedure for hospital fee payment, the hospital said.

Thuy has recovered and will be discharged today, November 1, the hospital said.

Her father is a farmer and her mother is a mental patient. Thuy is a grade 5 student at the Pho Minh Primary School, the newswire said.

Hundreds fooled in Halloween party scam

Hundreds of excited people thronged the Saigon Belly dance building in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 3 last Sunday night for what had been advertised as a thrilling Halloween experience only to find out they had been scammed.

The Halloween Horror Night party was advertised as a Hollywood party by Universal and Sony Pictures that had been brought to Vietnam for the first time.

The publicity for the event on many forums screamed: “It is a different Halloween party. You cannot stay quiet, dress up, listen to music, and go home. There is excitement and screaming at the ‘Halloween Horror night’.”

Also advertised were horror movies, a buffet of Italian and Brazilian food, French patisserie, a lucky draw, and many gifts.

There was a warning: “This event is not recommended for children under 13, pregnant women and people with epilepsy. No costumes or masks allowed.”

Many people fell for the ad and sent VND100,000 (US$5) to have tickets delivered to them.
But they turned up, they found empty rooms with a few posters on the walls rather than a Hollywood-style party as advertised.

Tran Thi Kim Ngan, the building director, said two months ago a young man called Nam had come and rented a few rooms for a dance party from 5.30 to 10pm on October 30.

“I rented [them] for VND150,000 an hour. But we had no idea about any Halloween party.”

Police in Ward 4, District 3, have taken Nam in for questioning and discovered he had no permit to organize an event.

They have ordered the organizers to refund the money to buyers.

Binh Cach Bridge collapses for fifth time

The Binh Cach Bridge on Road 879 that links Cho Gao in Tien Giang Province and Chau Thanh District in Long An Province collapsed when a 15-ton truck carrying cow excrement ran over it.

The incident occurred at 10 pm Saturday, causing the truck to fall down to the canal. Bags of cow excrement from the truck then drifted over the canal’s water surface.

The driver managed to get out of the cabin and suffered no wounds.

Fortunately, there were neither other vehicles nor pedestrians on the bridge at the time of the collapse.

The incident blocked traffic between the two ends of the bride as well as the waterway traffic in the area.

It is the fifth time that the bridge has collapsed due to overloaded vehicles.

The 21-meter-long bridge has no supporting piles, so it is vulnerable to collapse, according to some experts.

More than three months ago, the bridge collapsed under the weight of a truck carrying 40 tons of rice on July 19. After just two days of repair, it was into operation again.

Canada, Vietnam share experience in land information management

Canada and Vietnam co-organized a seminar on land management and land tax collection in the northern province of Nam Dinh on October 31.

Experts working in the fields of investment, planning, natural resources and construction from Canada’s Saguenay city and Vietnam’s Nam Dinh, Pleiku, Thai Binh, Phu Ly and Tra Vinh cities attended the event.

The seminar was held within the framework of a project to strengthen local economic development through managing land information that is being deployed by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), aiming to create favourable conditions for exchanging, sharing experience and supporting cities to take part in the project.

Canadian delegates shared their experiences in clarifying real estate transactions, preventing fraud and establishing conditions for credit.

Vu Thi Linh, Vice General Secretary of the Association of Cities of Vietnam (ACVN), said the lack of human resources qualified in the use of information technology (IT) and the weakness in developing software for public management mean that Vietnam finds it difficult to manage land-related information.

Representatives of Vietnamese cities hoped that the Canadian experts would share their experience in providing land information for administrative agencies and publishing information on the internet.

The CIDA project to strengthen the capacity of local economic development through land information management has been undertaken in Vietnam since 2004, with Nam Dinh chosen as the pilot city.

Since 2008, the project has been deployed in five more cities in Vietnam, namely Nam Dinh, Pleiku, Thai Binh, Phu Ly and Tra Vinh.

Canada has committed to support local economic development capacity in three more cities: Thai Nguyen, Ha Tinh and Soc Trang in the next phase before replicating the model across the country.

Costa Classica brings tourists to Ha Long Bay

Costa Classica cruise ship is scheduled to dock at Ha Long Bay at 8am on November 1, bringing 2,200 foreign tourists to Vietnam.

These visitors have booked a trans-Viet tour organized by the Saigontourist Travel Service Company.

After arriving at Ha Long Bay, they will visit Yen Tu and Long Tien pagodas, explore local markets and enjoy traditional art performances.

In the afternoon, the visitors will leave Ha Long for Danang in central Vietnam, where they make a tour of Hoi An ancient city, My Son relics and the former Hue imperial capital. These sites have been recognized as World Heritage by UNESCO.

On November 4, Costa Classica will reach Navi Oil port in HCM City. Tourists will go shopping at Ben Thanh market, enjoy water puppet shows and visit Cu Chi tunnels.

On the evening of November 4, the cruise ship will leave HCM City, ending the four-day trans-Viet journey.

So far, Saigontourist has received nearly 50,000 foreign visitors coming by sea, most of them are from Italy, Spain, the UK, Germany, Australia and China.

Meeting for Vietnamese students and alumni held in Italy

A meeting to strengthen management activities and youth movements was jointly held by the Vietnamese Embassy and the Vietnamese Students and Alumni Association in Italy on October 29-30.  

Participants reviewed the association’s advantages, difficulties and remarkable achievements during the 2009-2011 period and worked out plans for its coming term.

Vietnamese Ambassador Dang Khanh Thoai briefed them on the political and economic development of Vietnam over the past years and the Party and State policy on foreign affairs and community work including the association in Italy.

He stressed that the association has successfully mobilized Vietnamese students and alumni for its activities, notably sports and cultural exchanges despite facing huge challenges.

However, it should diversify activities to attract more members and boost cooperation with the Embassy to receive more support, he added.

Many doctors forced to seek other jobs
 
While some doctors at public hospitals have been forced to seek other jobs due to low salaries, others have found a way to earn hundreds of millions of dong per month in a situation that has some health experts worried.

Nguyen Ngoc Hung, head of the Internal Medicine at Hospital 09 which specialises in treating HIV/AIDS patients, said that he had worked at the hospital for 15 years in spite of the hard work and a meagre income.

Director of the hospital Tran Quoc Tuan said: "More than 80 per cent of the staff rent their homes. Although they receive supplementary income equalling 70 per cent of their salary, it is still not enough to meet their living requirements."

Low salaries and pressure at work had made it difficult for the hospital to recruit new doctors over the last five years, said Ly Tran Tinh, director of the Ha Noi Psychiatric Hospital, adding that some doctors only worked for a few days each week, leaving the hospital understaffed.

Doctors in his hospital only earned VND3 million (US$142) per month. Many had quit, he said.

Meanwhile, specialists in areas such as ob/gyn, paediatrics, dermatology and otorhinolaryngology (head and neck surgery) could earn up to VND400 million (US$19,000) per month at private clinics, said Vu Hoang Nguyen, director of Tri Duc Hospital in Ha Noi.

Tong Quang Hung of the Ha Noi Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital said: "We have to distinguish between salary and income. In fact, doctor's salaries are currently very low. The salary that we receive from the State is not worth our effort so many doctors choose to do part-time work in private clinics."

"I also thought about moving to a private hospital where I could earn up to VND50 million per month but instead I decided to stay at my hospital while supplementing my income by working at private clinics outside," he said.

Many patients prefered to go to private hospitals where they could receive faster and better treatment than in public ones, said Nguyen Tien Luan of Ha Noi's Ba Dinh District.

Former Health Minister Dr Pham Song said that only a few doctors actually quit working at public hospitals to open their own clinics or work in the private health sector. Most of them were probably young and made the choice to move to the private sector because they were not able to make career advancements at their workplace.

The reality raised the alert for policymakers, Song stressed, saying that the Government should change its salary policy for doctors, and hospital leaders should pay more attention to the working environment and doctors' expectations and desires.

It was also necessary to develop policies that would require medical school students to commit to working for two to three years in public hospitals after graduation, and potentially even longer if they pursued sponsored- training courses, he said.

Stricter checks on vegetables supplied to HCMC  

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in the highland province of Lam Dong and in Ho Chi Minh City have signed an agreement to produce safe, clean vegetables for supply to city markets.

Amongst the 12 provinces supplying vegetables to Ho Chi Minh City, Lam Dong Province provides around 50 percent of the volume.

According to statistics of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) in the city, around 750,000 tons of vegetables are consumed every year.

Suburban districts around the city can only provide between 250,000 to 285,000 tons of cabbages and Lam Dong alone can provide 448,000 tons.

The Mekong delta provinces of Tien Giang with 52,00 tons, Long An with 16,000 tons, Tay Ninh ,Dong Nai, Ben Tre, Tra Vinh, Bac Lieu, Vinh Long, Dong Thap with 4,600 tons.

Every night, staff from the Department of Plant Protection checks vegetables coming from other parts of the country to wholesale markets like Hoc Mon, Thu Duc and Binh Dien in District 8. Officials check residues of fertilizers and other contamination of the vegetables.

During the first 9 months of the year, the health staff detected 18 kinds of vegetables containing fertilizer residues that exceeded permissible levels. However, the Department of Plant Protection said the checks can not be a guarantee because very few vegetables are checked at random while different kinds of vegetables are brought into the city.

Le Thanh Liem, director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in HCMC, said the agreement ensures food safety and hygiene. Under the agreement, the Department of Plant Protection in Lam Dong Province will keep track of farmers and provide consultation of use of fertilizers to avoid over contamination for consumers.

Relevant agencies also conduct random checks of vegetables in the fields before transporting to the city. This has many benefits. First, the origin of the vegetables is confirmed; second, relevant agencies in Lam Dong Province can forbid consumption of produce of farmers who breach food safety regulations.

Nguyen Van Duc Tien, head of the Department of Plant Protection in HCMC, said carrots, tomatoes and cabbage, three most consumed commodities, will be the first for checking in farms in Lam Dong Province and later 24 other varieties will be added.  

DARD in HCMC will also sign a similar agreement with provinces that supply huge volume of vegetables to the city such as the Mekong delta provinces of Tien Giang, Long An and Tay Ninh this year.
 
Viet Nam gives aid to Thai flood victims

The Vietnamese Government has donated US$100,000 to aid the Thai Government and people in the aftermath of recent flooding.

On behalf of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Minster of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh handed a cheque to Thai Ambassador Anuson Chinvano yeterday.

Mandatory training for waterway safety

A compulsory training programme for people who work on ships, boats and floating restaurants will soon be set in place, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST).

In an effort to strengthen State management and reduce waterway accidents, those set to receive training mainly include managers, crewmembers and attendants who help provide tourism services.

Seaweed regeneration project sees success

The Nha Trang Institute of Technological Research and Application has managed to successfully grow the seaweed sargassum on Yen Island.

This new achievement is expected to help regenerate the seaweed bed damaged via exploitation for food, fertiliser and medical production.

While damaged seaweed beds could mean a loss of habitat, Viet Nam has yet to implement a legal regulation to restrict seaweed exploitation.

Children's pictures depict traffic safety

Sixty pictures featuring subjects related to traffic have been on display at an exhibition on traffic safety at the Ha Noi Children's Cultural Palace since Sunday.

The pictures, drawn by kids from five to 15 years old, were selected from a drawing competition on traffic circulation which was organised by the Centre for Research, Preservation and Promotion of Cultural Identity and the National Traffic Safety Committee.

The competition, announced in June, drew the participation of nearly 100 children from throughout the country. As many as 532 pictures were submitted and awards were given to 60 pictures drawn by 50 kids.

Two ninth grade students drowned

Two ninth grade students drowned while swimming in Pe Luong Lake in northwestern Dien Bien Province on Sunday.

The students, a girl and a boy, were both 14 years old and went to the local Thanh Truong Secondary School. According to a classmate who witnessed the accident, the pair, along with 12 other classmates, were taking a bath on the lake when they ran into trouble in deep water. Only one knew how to swim. The case is under investigation.

Authorities issue strict traffic rules for Thu Thiem Tunnel  

The Department of Transport has issued strict regulations for vehicular traffic, prior to the opening of the Thu Thiem Tunnel in Ho Chi Minh City on November 20.  

Thu Thiem Tunnel is an important section of the East West Highway, linking Highway 1A in Binh Chanh District to the Hanoi Highway in District 2.

Vehicles travelling from Highway 1A to Ham Nghi Street in District 1 and then on Vo Van Kiet Road (East West Highway) will continue through the Thu Thiem Tunnel (under Saigon River) onto the Hanoi Highway and vice versa.
 
Cars and buses will be allowed to ply the tunnel 24/7, while light trucks of less than five ton capacity between 8am-4pm and 8pm-6am, whereas those over five ton capacity will be allowed through between 9pm and 6am every day.

Motorcycles will be allowed between 6-9pm with maximum speed of 40 kilometers per hour.

For automobiles the maximum speed is 60 kilometers and minimum 30 kilometers an hour. They must also keep a safe distance of 30m from the vehicle in front.

Pedestrians, unregistered three or four wheel vehicles, oversized vehicles, bicycles, livestock carrying carts and toxic waste are strictly banned from the tunnel at all times.

The above regulations will be displayed on electronic boards at both ends of the tunnel and on some roads connecting to the East - West Highway route.

In event of accidents or other problems, electronic boards will also inform people what they should do.

The boards will be installed on Highway 1A, Hai Thuong Lan Ong Street in District 5, Ky Con Crossroad, 25B Road, Tran Nao Street in District 2 and crossroads leading to the Thu Thiem Tunnel.

Department of Transport and relevant authorities will closely monitor vehicles, install sign boards and commission staff to watch both ends of the tunnel to deter prohibited vehicles from entering.

A CCTV camera system will be installed to monitor all vehicles inside the tunnel.

Blowing of horns, turning on head lights or stopping vehicles in the tunnel will be prohibited.

Car drivers must dim parking lights and lower radio frequencies to 665 KHz, 610 KHz or 588 KHz.

Tran Quang Lam, Director of the Thu Thiem Tunnel Management Board said that a seven member group will handle traffic jams and provide first aid in case of accidents in the tunnel.

The HCMC People’s Committee has also issued regulations to ensure security, fire fighting and prevention and rescue operations.

Heavy fines on medics providing illicit services: Ministry  

Effective December 1 this year, doctors prescribing unnecessary drugs to patients or providing illicit medical services to health insurance card holders will be heavily penalized.

This is an important clause in the contents of the new administrative law set by the government on health insurance. Medical workers will face a maximum fine of VND40 million(US$1,912) if they prescribe unnecessary medicines or ask patients to undergo unnecessary medical tests.
 
According to a report presented by the Department of Health Examination and Treatment under the Ministry of Health, all kinds of unnecessary medical tests of patients showed an increase in 2010. For instance, 134 million biochemical tests were conducted last year, an increase of more than 12 percent since 2009. Hospitals also conducted 1.4 million CT scans and 2 million endoscopies in 2010, an increase of 10 percent and 24 percent respectively.

However, the Ministry of Health has not yet issued any set testing procedures whereby all medical tests will be able to meet the same standards and be accepted by hospitals and medical clinics across the country.

In addition, the decree also stipulates that anyone who provides fake prescriptions to health insurance holders who do not come physically to the hospital for any tests or consultation will be issued a strict warning or could be fined anything between VND500,000 to VND24 million.

Anyone lending their health insurance card to others or using other person’s card will face a fine from VND500,000 to VND2 million, and have their card impounded for a period of 30 days.