Officials claim cattle, poultry epidemics under control

For the first time ever, not a single locality has reported disease epidemics among cattle or poultry, said Pham Van Dong, head of the Ministry's Department of Animal Health, at a meeting of the national steering committee for bird flu prevention yesterday, Jan 22.

The department, however, urged all localities to continue strictly adhering to procedures on epidemic prevention, implement on-the-ground inspections, monitor the flow of poultry in and out of the area and provide vaccinations as regulated.

These actions should be top priorities as the Lunar New Year arrives and demand for cattle and poultry reaches its peak, ministry officials said.

Meanwhile, in Dong Nai Province, environmental police uncovered a slaughterhouse that processed animals with blue-pig disease in the city of Bien Hoa.

The head of the facility was not able to provide papers related to the origin of the pigs.

The slaughterhouse started operating in 2010, according to locals, who said the facility bought pigs without origin to process and sell in markets in Bien Hoa city. The case is currently under investigation.

Public expects better quality services

Changes in awareness and approaches to public service delivery were keys to better Government management of healthcare, education and retirement, a conference heard in Ha Noi last week.

An expert from the Central Institute for Economic Management, conference organiser Nguyen Thi Kim Nhung, said Government used to be the only public service provider in Viet Nam and it was still a major provider, especially in healthcare, education and retirement.

However, public service delivery in the country faced shortcomings due to overlapping among Government's bodies, low efficiency of funds allocation, little engagement from the non-State sector and poor supervision and evaluation, an institute survey indicated.

There was no authorised agency in charge of evaluating the efficiency of State's spending on education and healthcare, Nhung said.

Service users had few options while the private sector had little motivation to offer public services, thus the quality of service delivery remained low, she said.

"Now is the time the public sector should only do what private sector is unable to do," she said, urging more policies encouraging the private sector to provide public services.

The Government would play a regulatory and supervisory role, she said.

Economic expert Le Dang Doanh said that a problem in public service management in Viet Nam was that the provider was also the supervisor.

For example, the education ministry issues regulations and then it evaluates their implementation.

In another case, both the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs were managing the job training institution network, causing overlapping and waste.

Moreover, Doanh said, it was needed to have a legal framework on the involvement of the private sector in public service delivery. Now, there was only a Government decision encouraging them to join.

Former vice head of the National Assembly's Committee for Culture, Youth, Adolescents and Children Nguyen Minh Thuyet suggested the mechanism in which training institutions were under management and subsidised by the ministry or People's Committee should be removed to create competition and raise training quality.

The conference aimed to collect opinions for its report on Government roles and functions in education, healthcare and retirement.

The report is part of project funded by the Sweden International Development Agency to support the Government of Viet Nam to reform its apparatus.

Vietnamese, Cambodian women strengthen cooperation

The Vietnam Women's Union (VWU) and the Cambodian Women's Association for Peace and Development (CWAPD) signed a cooperation agreement for the 2013-2017 period in Phnom Penh on January 21.

Ms Nguyen Thi Thanh Hoa and Ms Men Samol sign the agreement. (Photo: VNS)

The document was inked by VWU President Nguyen Thi Thanh Hoa and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Men Samol, President of the CWAPD.

Speaking at the event, Hoa said that the agreement will provide an important foundation for promoting the cooperation between the two unions in particular and the two countries' women in general.

Men Samol expressed her gratitude to Vietnamese volunteer soldiers, including many women, for helping Cambodian people overthrow the Pol Pot genocidal regime in 1979 and revive.

On the occasion, Men Samol presented the Cambodian Royal Government's Order of Merit to 31 VWU officials, including VWU President Nguyen Thi Thanh Hoa, former Vice President and former VWU President Truong My Hoa and former VWU Vice President Vo Thi Thang.

Hoa awarded the Vietnamese State's Friendship Order to Senator Mean Sam An, CWAPD Vice President, and Senator Chhouk Chhim, former CWAPD President as well as the insignia "For the development of Vietnamese women" to nine officials of the Cambodian association.

The individuals have made great contributions to maintaining and promoting the traditional friendship, solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Cambodia as well as the development of women and gender equality in both countries.

During the Cambodia visit from January 21-24, the VWU delegation will meet with Say Chhum, head of the Standing Committee of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) and first Vice President of the Senate and the Governor of Sihanoukville city. It will visit the Intelligent Women project of the CWAPD - Phnom Penh chapter.

Better care for HIV patients

More than 118,900 HIV-positive people have received healthcare services thanks to the Global Fund supported project on HIV/AIDS prevention and control in Vietnam.

The figure was released at a January 22 conference in Hanoi reviewing the project’s 2012 implementation and devising its 2013 orientations.

The project has provided more than 25,900 HIV-positive patients with antiretroviral (ARV) drugs. An additional 475 pregnant women received preventive care.

Dr. Pham Duc Manh, the project management board’s deputy director, reported the project has helped establish more than 167 healthcare centres in 50 provinces and cities across the country catering to people living with HIV/AIDS.

Voluntary peer groups and HIV patient clubs were also founded to ensure better standards of HIV patient care.

Higher risk demographics, such as sex workers and drug users, are a particular priority for assistance.

Vietnamese commits suicide in South Korea

A Vietnamese woman was reported to have killed herself in the Republic of Korea, the Vietnam Embassy in Korea said on Friday.

Nguyen Thi Diem Trinh, a native of Can Tho City's Co Do District was found dead in her rented room in Gumi City.
Upon receiving the announcement, the Viet Nam Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested that the Consulate General of Republic of Korea in HCM City help repatriate her body back to Viet Nam.

Two arrested for trafficking in humans to China

Border guards and police forces in Thanh Hoa province have arrested two people for trafficking in local women to China.

The two arrestees were identified as Giang Seo Chu, born in 1988, and Giang Thi Mu, born in 1977. Both are from the northern border province of Lao Cai.

During their interception of Chu and Mu’s illegal operations, police rescued a 31-year old woman also from Lao Cai, who fell victim to the trafficking case.

The duo admitted they had sold two other Vietnamese women from Thanh Hoa province to China for 10,000 Chinese yuan each.

Initial investigations revealed Giang Thi Mu is married to a Chinese man from Yunnan province.

Exemplar awards to focus on socio-economic achievements

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has asked that the choice of the nation's exemplars focus on those who had an impact on socio-economic development, in a bid to help the nation achieve set targets.

Dung made the request at the 50th session of the Central Emulation Award Council in Ha Noi yesterday.

Ministries, sectors and localities needed to choose exemplars for awards in a practical and efficient way, Dung said.
More attention needed to be paid to detecting and praising people who had done good deeds that affected socio-economic development, he said.

Magazine focuses on ethnic minority groups

A pictorial magazine, Dan toc va Mien nui (Nationalities and Mountain), owned by the Vietnam News Agency, debuted in Ha Noi yesterday.

The magazine, published in Vietnamese and five ethnic languages – Khmer, Cham, Bahnar, Jrai and Ede – was expected to provide ethnic groups nation-wide with a good source of information.

The debut ceremony was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan and other officials.

The magazine replaces a newsletter which has been published by the agency since January 1991, the first such publication to target ethnic groups.

It has been distributed free to all villages, communes, schools and border posts in locations inhabited by ethnic groups and is widely used as a reference for school children.

Since last July, the magazine has been circulated in 52 out of 63 provinces and cities.

The agency aims to publish the magazine in three other languages – Mong, K'Ho and M'Nong – in the short term and in all recognised ethnic languages by 2015. An online version is also planned.

Nhan praised the agency for the publication, which he said was important in the national development strategy, which included care for ethnic groups.

It had become a vital bridge between the Party, State and ethnic groups.

He asked the editorial board and the agency to survey the target readership to improve the content, to make it even more relevant to the lives, cultures, customs and religions of each group.

Agency general director Nguyen Duc Loi said the publication had also helped preserve verbal and written language of ethnic groups.

And it had not only made Party and State policies available to the groups but had also helped have their voices to be heard.

Smuggled firecrackers discovered on coach

About 1,500 firecrackers of all types were seized in Ha Noi on Monday, according to the city's economic police.
The smuggled products, which were being transported on a coach travelling from Cao Bang to Nam Dinh, were hidden in bags containing fruits and cloth.

There are four suspects being held in custody for questioning. They are 30-year-old passenger Nguyen Thi Thuy, driver Do Van Xung and his two assistants. Firecrackers have been banned in Viet Nam for a long time.

VNN/VOV/VNS