Viet Nam, China tackle drug traffic

Vietnamese and Chinese police officers yesterday, Nov 23, discussed co-operative measures to stop drug smuggling along the border between the two countries.

Organised by the Standing Office on Drug Control under the Viet Nam's Public Security, the two-day meeting focused on concerted efforts to fight crime, with police forces exchanging information on cross-border and transnational drug smuggling.

Major-General Vu Hung Vuong, deputy head of the Crime-Fighting Police Department under the Ministry of Public Security of Viet Nam, said drug trafficking had been on the rise along border provinces between Viet Nam and China.

The long border between the two countries, which now have flourishing trade relations, has made it difficult to control drug smuggling, he said. Located not far from the Golden Triangle (the border between Laos, Thailand and Myanmar), Viet Nam and China are under pressure from illegal imports of drug sources from the area.

Deng Ming, deputy head of the Drug Fighting Department under China's Ministry of Public Security, said strengthened cooperation between the two countries' police forces would help enhance the effectiveness of cross-border drug control activities.

Border region battles malaria

The Central Highland Province of Dak Lak and Cambodia's Mundulkiri Province will take added measures to fight malaria spreading along border areas.

This was one of the outcomes at the second conference on controlling the disease held here on Monday by the province's Global Malaria Control Fund Project Management Board.

Board vice chairman and vice director of the province's Malaria Control Centre, Ho Tan Tien, said the shortage of healthcare staff in both provinces made it difficult to discover and treat malaria patients at an early stage.

Many who caught the disease travelled along the border zone or were farmers who slept in the forest at nights.

About 229 malaria patients were reported in the Dak Lak border districts of Ea Sup and Buon Don in the first nine months of this year – 22 per cent of the total number of cases in the province.

Tien said Dak Lak Province's Healthcare Department would help train staff for the Cambodian province.

The two provinces are already committed to spraying chemicals at the same time, using the same treatment procedures, improving training for healthcare staff and raising public understanding about the mosquito-borne disease.

Woman dies of dengue fever in Da Nang

Central Da Nang City's Preventive Health Centre has reported a second dengue fever death in the city.

The 23 year old female victim was from Ngu Hanh Son District.

Another 27 year old woman from Son Tra District also died recently from the virus.

More than 4,000 cases of dengue fever have been confirmed in the city, with students accounting for 70 per cent.

Dangerous drug taken off shelves

The Drug Administration of Viet Nam has removed a drug used to treat diabetes from distribution following a recommendation by the French medical watchdog agency l'Afssaps.

A high number of patients that took Mediator suffered damage to valves in their hearts.

The drug is used to treat diabetic and overweight patients and is produced by Les Laboratoires Servier Company based in France.

Woman imprisoned for poisoning children

The People's Court of the central Nghe An Province sentenced Le Thi Ngan to seven years in prison on Sunday for attempting to murder her three children.

Ngan, 35, of Yen Thanh District's Yen Thanh Township, was apparently angry with her husband, and forced her three children aged six to 11 to drink milk mixed with pesticide in July.

After her children began vomiting and frothing at the mouth, she took them to hospital, where they made a full recovery.

Forest fires threaten northern provinces

Ten northern provinces are facing forest fire risks up to Level 5, the highest level, warned the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's Forestry Management Department.

The provinces include Bac Can, Cao Bang, Hoa Binh, Thai Nguyen, Tuyen Quang, Bac Giang, Lang Son, Quang Ninh, Lai Chau and Dien Bien.

VNN/VOV/VNS