Efforts made to shake off Agent Orange hangover

Dioxin analytical capacity was the topic of the day at a seminar held by the Viet Nam Environment Administration (VEA) under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in Ha Noi last Friday.

A number of laboratories in Viet Nam have been upgraded to serve research into the consequences of Agent Orange/dioxin in Viet Nam, including the facility at the Viet Nam-Russia Tropical Centre, and the Analytical Centre in Ho Chi Minh City.

Deputy Director of VEA Le Ke Son said although Viet Nam has made a number of achievements in researching and analysing dioxin pollution, the activities have faced obstacles, including the shortage of personnel.

He called for assistance from the US Government in terms of equipment and personnel training in the field, so that Viet Nam can achieve the goal of solving basic problems related to dioxin pollution in Viet Nam by 2015.

During the 10 years from 1961, the US Army sprayed more than 18.2 million gallons of Agent Orange containing dioxin onto more than 10 percent of land in southern Viet Nam, destroying millions of hectares of forest and agricultural land, as well as severely impacting the health of many generations of Vietnamese people.

It is estimated that more than 4.8 million Vietnamese were exposed to Agent Orange/dioxin, most of whom lived along the Truong Son supply route and border area with Cambodia . Many of the victims have died, while millions of their descendants still live with diseases and poverty due to the effects of Agent Orange.

Laos, Vietnam celebrate 50 years of labour cooperation

The central Nghe An province has hosted a December 2 celebration of the 50th anniversary of cooperation between the Vietnam Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs (MoLISA) and the Laos Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare.

Photo: VOV

In his speech at the celebration, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc—who is also Chairman of the Vietnam-Laos Cooperation Sub-Committee—highlighted the time-honoured friendship and mutual support shared by the two nations. He noted the importance of 1977’s signing of the Friendship and Cooperation Treaty, contributing as it did to the promotion of Vietnam-Laos special relationship during the process of national construction.

Phuc also praised the effectiveness of the collaborations between the two ministries in and thanked the Lao government and people for helping Vietnam in its search for the remains of voluntary soldiers left behind in Laos.

The remains of nearly 16,000 fallen Vietnamese combatants have been repatriated to the homeland thus far.

MoLISA Minister Pham Thi Hai Chuyen and her Lao counterpart Onechanh Thammavong said that both sides will continue strengthening cooperation across a variety of fields including social welfare, labour, the collection of martyr remains, personnel training, and vocational training.

Seed Fund launched to assist deserving youth

After six years of preparation, the Vietnamese Seed Fund, an academic sponsorship fund co-oganised by Nhan Dan (People) Newspaper and the Viet Nam Technological and Commercial Bank (Techcombank) officially made its debut on December 1.

Addressing the launch ceremony, the editor-in-chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper, Thuan Huu, emphasised that the fund is an effort to follow late President Ho Chi Minh's ideology of learning for the entire life and building an educated society, while at the same time promoting Viet Nam's traditional fondness for studying and mutual assistance.

On its opening day, the fund presented 15 scholarships worth VND20 million (US$960) each to talented individuals who achieved good results in international Olympiads and students from poor families who came out on top in university entrance exams.

Law Committee's France tour ends

A delegation from the National Assembly's Law Committee, led by its Chairman Phan Trung Ly, will end their week-long visit to France today.

During the visit, the delegation met with the Legal Committees of the French Upper and Lower Houses, the Constitution Council and the French-Vietnamese Friendship Parliamentary Group to exchange and learn from the host country's experience in legislative activities and constitution building.

They studied French models for building and amending laws, implementing and protecting the constitution, co-ordinating central and local government and supervising state power institutions.

During a meeting with the delegation, President of the French-Vietnamese Friendship Group, Senator Gerard Miquel, applauded Viet Nam's achievements in law development and reform.

He expressed his hope that co-operation will continue to grow between the two countries, National Assemblies and parliamentarians.

During their trip the delegation visited several southern localities in France, including Marseille.

Cement-plant pollution upsets residents

Many householders in central Quang Ngai Province's Binh Son District last weekend flocked to Dai Viet-Dung Quat cement plant to oppose its environmental pollution.

The crowd used bamboo to barricade the main gate, preventing vehicles from going in or out. They also sent their complaints to provincial authorities.

Pham Thi Gac, a resident in Son Tra Village in Binh Dong Commune, said the plant was very noisy and also discharged clouds of dust that affected people's health. She said all householders had to shut their doors all day and that children found it difficult to study due to the noise.

According to Nguyen Dinh Vi, local wells were polluted with cement dust. People did not dare to use it any more and were forced to buy water for daily living at a cost of VND10,000 (US$0.48) per 20-litre-tank.

Nguyen Van Lang, general director of the Central Cement Joint Stock Company which manages the plant, admitted that the dust discharge had affected local residents.

"We will minimise the volume of dust discharged to the surrounding environment in the near future," said Lang.
The plant started operation six months ago and is still only using one third of its design capacity.

Residents are waiting for the provincial People's Committee to stop the pollution and stabilise daily living for those living around the plant.

Aussie marathon funds clean water

Australian Pat Farmer will run a marathon from the north to the south of Viet Nam from December 9 to January 16.
The journey will begin from the town of Mong Cai in northern Viet Nam then head south, running through Ha Noi and HCM City.

The run will finish in the southern province of Ca Mau. Following the run, Farmer intends to jet ski along the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta River from Ca Mau and will finish at Nha Rong Harbour in HCM City.

The main journey will cover about 80-85km a day, completing about 3,000km in 40 days.

Farmer will be accompanied by Vietnamese running partner Mai Nguyen Dinh Huy.

People are urged to support Farmer and help the Australian Red Cross raise US$275,000 for a clean water project.

India Marine Police ship visits HCM City

SAMRAT ship of the Indian Marine Police moored in Ho Chi Minh City on December 2 to begin its five-day friendly visit.
During their stay, SAMRAT officers and mariners pay courtesy visits to the city’s leaders and the heads of High Command of Military Zone 7 and the Department of Marine Police, and visit the headquarters of Marine Police Zone 3.
They also pay a floral tribute to the late President Ho Chi Minh at his Monument.

The visit aims to enhance the friendship, cooperation, understanding and mutual trust between the two countries’ armies in general and marine police in particular.

Musculo-skeletal health in focus

Policy-makers around the world need to pay more attention to the medical problems associated with musculoskeletal conditions so that preventable disabilities and unnecessary suffering can be avoided, a prominent health official has said.

Anthony Woolf, the chair of the international coordinating council of the global Bone and Joint Decade (2010-2020) network, said musculoskeletal conditions had the worst impact on quality of life of many chronic diseases.

Woolf spoke at the World Network Conference of the Bone and Joint Decade, which in HCM City yesterday.

Joint diseases, spinal disorders, back and regional pain problems as well as osteoporosis and fragility fractures affect hundreds of millions of people around the world, causing long-term pain and physical disabilities.

Woolf noted these conditions were the most common cause of people losing economic independence, which in turn creates a major burden on healthcare.

With changing demographics worldwide, particularly a rise in the number of older people, the burden will become even worse.

He said there were effective ways of preventing and controlling musculoskeletal conditions but they had not been implemented with equity.

However, he noted that governments worldwide lacked sufficient policies and priorities to conduct research and offer preventive measures for these conditions.

Musculoskeletal disorders are a key cause for many primary-care consultations, with long-standing musculoskeletal problems the chief reason that one in four adults seek long-term treatment in Europe, according to Woolf.

Although musculoskeletal disorders are more common with ageing, they have a major impact on the working population, and are the most common cause of health problems that limit work in developed countries.

With the aging of the population and change in lifestyles, including reduced physical activity and an increase in obesity, there will be a dramatic increase in musculoskeletal conditions and consequent disabilities.

Increasing physical fitness, maintaining an ideal body weight and eating a balanced diet with adequate amounts of calcium and vitamin D, as well as avoidance of smoking and balanced use of alcohol, can help reduce the burden of musculoskeletal disease.

Injury prevention, whether related to sport, occupation or road accidents, can also have short – and long-term impacts on musculoskeletal health.

In recent years, treatments for various musculoskeletal conditions have improved considerably, according to Woolf.
However, an underlying lack of awareness by policymakers, non-expert health workers and the public about the impact of musculoskeletal conditions had all contributed to the lack of support and research for musculoskeletal conditions.

Free medical check-ups for poor Vietnamese and Cambodians

The Vietnamese-Cambodian Association in Koh Kong has cooperated with doctors from HCM city in providing free medical check-ups for around 3,000 Vietnamese residents and poor Cambodians from December 1-3.

The Vietnamese medical delegation includes 30 doctors and nurses from some hospitals and health stations in HCM City and Dong Nai province.

Vice Mayor of Koh Kong province Yu Mi said the programme is of great significance to the local people who are living in difficult circumstances.  

The Vietnamese-Cambodian Association called on charity organizations to carry out similar programmes for poor Vietnamese residents and Cambodian people.

RoK helps patients with cleft palates

Doctors from the Republic of Korea (RoK) provided free surgery for patients aged 1 to 35 with cleft palates in the southern province of Binh Duong.

During its current visit to Binh Duong from November 23 to December 1, the delegation offered surgery without charge to 28 underprivileged patients.

Professor Jin Young Choi, head of the RoK delegation, said Korean doctors have travelled to Viet Nam on 17 occasions.

In total, 384 patients have received humanitarian medical treatment, including 206 with cleft palates.

The delegation has donated medical equipment worth more than 3 billion VND to Binh Duong General Hospital.

The delegation plans to continue making visits to Binh Duong, lending a helping hand to future patients in need.

Sex tourism complicates the prostitution industry

The increasing complexity of the sex industry, most notably the growing emergence of sex tourism and gay prostitutes, has made regulating the sector an unenviable task, a conference reviewing prostitution prevention under a 2011-15 programme has heard.

Deputy Head of HCM City's Social Evils Fighting and Prevention Department Le Van Quy said the number of male sex workers in HCM City has been on the rise, increasing the risk of spreading sexually transmitted diseases to the community as most did not access healthcare services for fear of discrimination.

Five years ago, the department arrested 22 male sex workers and sent them to rehabilitation centres, but it was forced to release them as there was no legal basis to help solve the problem, he said.

The same situation occured in southern Can Tho and central Da Nang cities.

Initial figures from the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs showed that there were more than 113,500 relaxation services such as spa and massage parlours and karaoke bars nationwide in 2012, with over 58,000 female staff. Of which, 3.2 per cent of the services and 13.2 per cent of female staff were allegedly offering sexual services.

Compounding the issue further, female prostitution has been operating secretly by cruising in cars or offering the services through the internet, especially in tourism sites.

Major Vu The Huan, deputy head of the Ministry of Public Security's Criminal Office No4, said the police would lobby the Government to adjust the law on male sex workers to curb this form of prostitution.

Huan also said that the police would work with the communication sector to block pornographic material on the internet.

So far, 50 of the 63 cities and provinces nationwide have established a trial model to help former prostitutes re-integrate into the society.

At the conference, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs announced a new national programme to supporting trafficking victims from 2012-15.

The VND80 billion (US$3.8 million) project will give legal support to victims and help them gain financial assistance by setting up at least three centres during the period.

Figures from the Ministry of Public Security's Social Evils Fighting and Prevention Department showed that police made 1,077 arrests in relation to prostitution and 744 prosecutions.

Meanwhile, border soldiers had rescued 177 victims of human trafficking, 16 of which were children.

Int’l Day of Persons with Disabilities marked in Hanoi

Hanoi has hosted a meeting responding to the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on December 2.

The event was co-organised by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs (MoLISA) and the Union for Disabled People's Associations.

Addressing the ceremony, MoLISA Deputy Minister Nguyen Trong Dam said that Vietnam now has more than 6 million people with disabilities, constituting 6.3 percent of the population. In recent years the Party and State have tried to encourage conditions for the disabled enabling their equal rights and offering them chances for personal development.People with disabilities now have more opportunities to involve themselves in culture, sports, vocational training, and employment that suits their abilities.. They have also provided with monthly allowances to assist with community integration.

Dam affirmed that the Government and localities have implemented programmes and projects aimed at perfecting legislation pertaining to the disabled. This is in line with Vietnam’s political commitments to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. To fulfill the Incheon Strategy on the New Decade for the Disabled Persons, the Prime Minister has approved a number of projects for the 2012-2020 period. Relevant ministries, localities, organisations, businesses, and individuals should also join efforts to help disabled people overcome their difficulties.

An award ceremony for a writing contest about how disabled people can make their fortunes was also held during the meeting. The contest—launched by the MOLISA, the Lao Dong & Xa Hoi (Labour & Social Affairs) Newspaper, and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ)—encouraged disabled people to integrate into the community and contribute to the national construction.

The meeting featured other entertainment including an exhibition displaying products made for and by the disabled, a painting contest, and sports and cultural activities.

VNN/VOV/VNS/VNA