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Children with HIV to be given all social services
Under a 2012-2015 plan of the Ministry of Labor, Ward Invalids and Social Affairs, every child with HIV/AIDS will be given care, treatment, education and all proper social services.
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The event was held by the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Education and Propaganda.
Every year, Vietnam sees about 4,000 pregnant women contract HIV. With the current mother-to-child transmission rate of 35 percent, there will be about 1,400 newborns at high risk of becoming infected with the deadly virus from their mothers every year, the ministry’s Mother and Children Protection and Care Department warned.
It is forecast that by the end of 2012, about 5,700 children under age 15 will be infected with HIV, the agency said.
Nguyen Trong An, deputy head of the Department, said the ministry was going to submit to the Government a program to support children with HIV/AIDS and offer non-barrier education to them for the 2012-2015 period.
Accordingly, all children with HIV/AIDS will be given appropriate care, treatment, consultancy, education and all necessary social services, An said.
The program will cost VND216 billion (US$10.38 million), he added.
Six hospitals face fines for overcharges
The Ha Noi People's Committee on Wednesday asked the Health Ministry to fine six hospitals for parking overcharges by the middle of this month.
The facilities include Thanh Nhan, the Ha Noi Lung Hospital, the Central Hospital of Dermatology, the Central Hospital of Geriatrics, the Central Children's Hospital and the Central Eye Hospital.
The People's Committee additionally criticised hospital directors for repeated violations.
HCM City hopes to fill 75,000 positions
Demand for workers in HCM City will rise by 8-10 per cent in the second quarter, with companies hoping to fill around 75,000 jobs, the Centre for Human Resources Forecast and Labour Market Information has said.
Nearly half of the demand will be for unskilled and manual workers and 18 per cent for semi-skilled workers.
Most of the demand is expected to arise in the electrical, electronics, telecom, mechanical engineering, textile and garment, footwear, information technology, marketing, and services sectors.
The labour turnover rate was likely to drop to below 20 per cent in the quarter, Tran Anh Tuan, deputy director of the centre said.
It had stood at 20 per cent in January and February and jumped to 25 per cent in March, he said.
In the first quarter the shortage of manual workers in labour-intensive industries such as footwear and textile and garment was less serious than in the same period last year, he added.
Unskilled and semi-skilled workers accounted for more than 50 per cent of hiring in the first quarter.
UK pharmacy company assists 12,000 poor people
As many as 12,000 poor people in 10 provinces and cities nationwide will be provided with free medical check-ups and treatment following an agreement between the Vietnam Red Cross (VRC) and Glaxosmithkline Pte Ltd Co. (GSK).
Under the agreement, signed in Hanoi on April 5, the British pharmaceutical, biologics, vaccines and consumer health company will provide nearly VND1.33 billion for the VRC to carry out mobile humanitarian medical check-ups and treatment activities in a one-year programme titled “Life without pain” starting on March 31, 2012.
At the signing ceremony, GSK General Director for Indochina Le Quang Hao said he is pleased with the friendly and effective cooperation between the GSK and the VRC.
He expressed hope that the cooperation will continue to be maintained and developed in the future, even after the agreement terminates.
VRC President Tran Ngoc Tang said he wishes to receive continued cooperation from the GSK and pledged to use the aid effectively for the health of the community.
Electronic stamps beat counterfeiters
The Viet Nam Standards and Consumers Association (VINATAS) in co-ordination with Vina CHG yesterday introduced electronic anti-counterfeit stamps to distinguish genuine from fake goods.
Customers who want to verify if products are genuine can have them checked by texting the stamp codes to the operator or going to the stamp operator's online website.
The stamps, which do not replace quality product stamps, cannot be reused and faked.
Requiem for fallen soldiers in Dien Bien Phu
A ceremony was held on April 5 at the Doc Lap national cemetery in northern Dien Bien province to pray for peace and commemorate martyrs who laid down their lives for national independence.
The ceremony was attended by local authorities, Most Venerable Thich Gia Quang, Deputy General Secretary of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha Central Committee, over 2,000 Buddhist dignitaries, monks, nuns and followers from across the country and overseas Vietnamese.
This is an annual activity to commemorate soldiers and people, who sacrificed their lives to the tremendous victory at Dien Bien Phu over the French colonialists, 58 years ago.
The observance will last until April 7.
“Understanding the Heart” program launched in New York
Vietnam’s “Understanding the Heart” Charity Association organized a program in New York on April 4 to raise funds for poor patients undergoing heart treatment.
The event attracted the participation of many overseas Vietnamese people, officials and students, as well as numerous international friends.
Vietnamese Ambassador to the US, Le Hoai Trung, said that in Vietnam, more than 10,000 babies are born with congenital heart diseases every year, and only 30 percent of them receive medical treatment.
He called on charity organizations and kind-hearted people in the US to support Vietnamese child patients through the “Understanding the Heart” program.
Director of “Understanding the Heart”, Pham Gia Chi Bao, who is also a famous actor and MC, expressed sincere thanks for valuable support from donors and introduced five ongoing projects which are appealing for financial assistance to help disadvantaged people in Vietnam.
Esmeralda V. Brown, Director of the Southern Diaspora Research and Development Centre, said that she will arrive in Vietnam to cooperate with local organizations and provide assistance to Vietnamese child patients of heart disease.
US group helps reduce domestic violence in Hanoi
A project sponsored by the US’s Ford Foundation has reduced domestic violence cases by over 60 percent in targeted communes in Hanoi.
According to a latest report by the municipal Health Department, the project entitled “Improving medical care for gender-based violence victims” has also lowered the number of women facing domestic violence since it was launched ten years ago.
The project has been jointly carried out by the Hanoi Health Department and the Centre for Studies and Applied Science, Gender, Family and Adolescents (CSAGA) in six communes in Dong Anh, Long Bien and Gia Lam districts, as well as two local hospitals.
The goal of the project is to integrate gender-based violence screening into medical practice at health facilities as well as to cooperate with experts and local authorities in building support networks for women who are victims of violence.
Through the project’s activities such as training courses, discussions and seminars on gender-based violence, healthcare providers, authorities and people in targeted localities have positively changed their attitude and awareness of gender equality and domestic violence, thus helping prevent gender-based cases of violence and better assistance for victims.
Deputy PM congratulates Khmer during festival
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh visited the Mekong Delta City of Can Tho on April 5 to congratulate the ethnic Khmer people on their New Year festival, the Chol Chnam Thmay.
Speaking at the gathering, Ninh said that the Party and State’s sound leadership and policies have created the best possible conditions for the local ethnic community to improve their lives both materially and spiritually.
He noted that the relevant ministries and local authorities should continue caring and supporting the Khmer community to help them enjoy better standard of living.
The Mekong Delta region is home to about 1.3 million Khmer people, accounting for 8 percent of the local population. In 2011, the rate of poor Khmer households fell to 10 percent.
The Chol Chnam Thmay festival, which falls annually in mid-April, is one of the most important festivals of the year for the Khmer people. On these days, people often go to pagodas and pray for a lucky new year.
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