Kids to get free cleft lip, palate surgery

Forty children with cleft lip and palate will receive free examinations and surgery from 18 volunteer doctors from South Korea and Japan as part of a one-week programme that started yesterday, Oct 3, at the National Hospital of Odonto – Stomatology in Ha Noi.

The hospital announced that children could contact the hospital to receive free check-ups and surgery under the annual programme.

Elevator door injures man in Ho Chi Minh City

A 22-year-old man suffered serious injuries when an elevator door slammed shut on him in an apartment block in Ho Chi Minh’s District 11 last Saturday.

Bui Van Hung of Tien Dat Transport Co Ltd was carrying a sofa from an apartment on the fifth floor of the Ly Thuong Kiet Tenement to the ground when the door closed and the sensor apparently did not work.

People nearby called the police but they were unable to extricate him.

It was not until the fire brigade arrived that Hung could be rescued.

The victim was taken to Cho Ray Hospital where doctors said he had multiple injuries.

Blue-ear pig disease recurs

The blue-ear pig epidemic has broken out again, threatening animal husbandry in Long An, Tien Giang, Tay Ninh, Soc Trang, and Quang Nam provinces, said the Animal Health Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The ministry has asked these provinces to focus on curbing the disease, maintaining animal husbandry, and ensuring food supplies.

It has also requested them to destroy all infected pigs, strictly ban pig slaughter, and set up checkpoints to prevent the transport of pork products from the affected areas.

Three die in construction accident in Can Tho

Three men were killed and two are in serious condition after an accident yesterday morning, Oct 3, at a hotel construction site, part of the Con Khuong restaurant complex in Ninh Kieu district, the Mekong Delta province of Can Tho.

According to witnesses, five workers got on a cart loaded with bricks to go up to work from above.

When the cart was going up, the cable connected to the cart broke, causing the five to fall into a pile of bricks on the ground.

Nguyen Hoang Nhung, 42 hailing from Soc Trang Province died on the spot.

The other four were hospitalized at Can Tho General Hospital.

Doctor Danh Bao Quoc, deputy head of the emergency ward said although they had carried out first aid, two workers, Doan Van Sanh, 38 and another unidentified man, stopped breathing 20 minutes later.

Currently, the other two, Tran Minh Hoan, 48 and Huynh Van Sau, 42 are receiving treatment for lung injuries.

Free checks offered to people with arthritis

The Ha Noi-based Viet Duc Hospital in co-operation with a friendship association from Marseille, France will provide free medical checks for people with arthritis this morning and on October 11 at the hospital bone clinic.

Patients in need of surgery will be registered to be operated on by French surgeons.

Doctors have asked patients to bring their ID cards and medical records.

Lao Cai brings biggest-ever drug trafficking ring to light

On October 3, the Lao Cai provincial People’s Court began trying the country’s biggest-ever case of illegal drug transportation and trafficking involving 11 defendants.

The defendants are charged with illegally transporting and trafficking more than 60 bars of heroin weighing 21,998.425 gram from Laos to Dien Bien and Lao Cai.

According to the People’s Procuracy in Lao Cai, the drug traffickers conducted their operations from 2006 to July 2010, and transferred a total of VND7 billion in many installments through the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) to buy the drugs and hire a transporter.

Due to the complexity of the case and its relation to many others, the trial will last three days from October 3-5.

Hotel fatal collapse linked to weak scaffold

The cause of the deadly collapse of a lobby of a hotel under construction in Ha Tinh Province on Sunday is linked to its “weak scaffolding system”, a contractor has said.

The Sailing Tower hotel collapse killed one and injured seven workers.

In a brief report to local authorities this morning, Hai Linh Join Stock Company, the construction’s contractor, admitted that the accident came after the scaffolding system couldn’t stand the massive weight of hundreds of tons of reinforced concrete.

Tran Huu Phuc, an official of the local construction department, also agreed, saying that the scaffold was made mostly of wood and bamboo trees. 

Besides, very little steel was found inside the four collapsed pillars that support the lobby roof.

The provincial People’s Committee has set up a committee to conduct further investigation into the case.

“It takes about a couple of days to identify the cause,” said Tran Xuan Tien, director of the province’s Department of Construction.

The eight-floor hotel project is estimated at more than VND200 billion (US$9.6 million).

Tran Cong Hieu of the hotel’s human resources department said the hotel will send staff to take care of the victims who are being treated at a local hospital.

The hotel will bear all costs of organizing the funeral for Le Thi Mai, 43, hailing from Ho Do commune in Thach Ha district.

Local residents said around 3 pm on Sunday the hotel’s lobby suddenly fell down when eight workers were working on it.

The workers were buried under the massive weight of the concrete roof.

Seven of them were pulled out alive from the wreckage after 5 hours of rescue efforts.

Unilever VN invests in community development

Unilever Vietnam (UVN) has pledged a US$2.57 million aid for community activities in Vietnam as part of its sustainable development plan during the 2012-2020 period. 

According to UVN Chairman J.V. Raman, the plan aims to strengthen the group’s commitment to create better lives for Vietnamese people. 

The plan’s major objectives include improving living standards for more than 20 million Vietnamese people through education programmes to raise women’s awareness of hygiene, health care and nutrition and improve children’s health; reducing by half impacts on the environment through innovations in production and technology; and contributing to hunger elimination and poverty reduction in Vietnam through micro-finance projects on creating jobs for women in difficult circumstances. 

UVN is making efforts to raise public awareness of community hygiene in Khuoi Rap village, Bao Lac district, in the northern mountainous province of Cao Bang, J.V. Raman said. 

Since 2006, UVN has worked with the Vietnamese Ministries of Health, and Education and Training, and the Vietnam Women’s Union, to stimulate community development activity. 

UVN has offered more than VND70 billion (US$3.3 million) each year to help Vietnamese state agencies implement initiatives to improve living standards of millions of Vietnamese families, especially those in remote areas.

VNN/VOV/VNS/Tuoi Tre