Vietnam, US boost public-private health cooperation

Over 160 delegates from the Ministry of Health, hospitals, large pharmaceutical companies and the US embassy gathered in Hanoi on December 6 for a seminar to discuss public-private cooperation in health services.

Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien stated that in the context of international integration and globalisation, Vietnam has been determined to strengthen public-private health cooperation and called on both foreign and domestic businesses, including US enterprises, to invest in the sector.

Minister Tien asked Vietnamese and US representatives to promote public-private cooperation in Vietnam’s healthcare industry and help residents get access to high-quality health services.

The event also offered an opportunity for US businesses to access some of Vietnam’s key policy makers and legal experts in the health sector to open up new opportunities for public-private cooperation in the future, she said.

Currently, waste treatment and hospitals are the only two pilot investment areas within health that operate under the public-private partnership (PPP) model.

Dr Pham Le Tuan from the Ministry of Health said that Vietnam now has more than 30,000 private medical clinics, and more than 100 private hospitals facilitating nearly 6,000 beds. There is also a further VND100 trillion estimated to be currently invested to meet future demand, he said.

Man seized for making fake certificates

Police in the Dong Nai city of Bien Hoa yesterday arrested a man living in Tan Hiep Ward for allegedly producing counterfeit university and college degree certificates.

After checking the house of 26-year-old Nguyen Kieu Vang, police discovered many pieces of equipment used for making fake documents, including computers, printers, ink dryers and about 200 fake seals from universities, colleges, vocational schools and communal people's committees across the country.

The police also uncovered hundreds of counterfeit certificates hidden in the house.

Vang admitted he has been working with a friend to make the fakes since September last year. Each certificate was sold at between VND200,000 (US$9.5) and VND1 million ($47).

Ha Noi to remove extra-thin houses

Ha Noi will retrieve and eliminate 317 ultra-thin and distorted houses in the first quarter next year, reported Nguyen The Hung, director of the municipal Department of Construction to the city's People's Council.

Ba Dinh District has the most houses that will be removed, with 81. Dong Da ranks second with 47 houses.

Ultra-thin and distorted houses have grown rapidly in the city in the last decade due to fast urban development and the high price of land clearing, especially along main roads. There are houses which are in an area of 1m x1.7m only.

EU donates medical equipment to Ha Nam

The Delegation of the European Union to Vietnam on December 7 handed over office and information technology equipment to Ha Nam province’s medical sector.

The aid package worth VND700 million includes photocopiers, desktop computers, labtops, printers, projectors, and scanners.

The donation is part of an EU-funded project to increase the management capacity and provide better healthcare services.

Health care is one of the two key areas that the EU has been funding in Vietnam. Between 2007 and 2013 the bloc has committed more than 40 percent of its total official development assistance (ODA), or 110 million euros, to healthcare improvements in the country.

The Union is the largest non-refundable aid provider for Vietnam in the healthcare sector. Most of its aid is used to enhance healthcare management capacity and institutional reforms.

Information sharing, co-operation key to curbing drug crimes

Viet Nam needs better co-operation and information sharing from other countries in the fight against drug-related crimes, an official from the Public Security Ministry told an international conference held here on Wednesday.

Addressing the international drug enforcement conference in the far eastern region, head of the ministry's General Department of Crime Prevention and Control Lieutenant General Phan Van Vinh added that the fight should be broadened to address trans-national drug criminals and drug trafficking rings.

"As Viet Nam is located near the ‘Golden Triangular' and ‘Golden Crescent' areas – two of the main illicit opium-producing areas in Asia - we have been seriously affected by drug-trafficking," he said. "We also face difficulties from high-tech crimes, so it's necessary to connect drug fighting forces belonging to different countries in the region."

Head of the Counter Narcotics Police Department Major General Nguyen Anh Tuan said a number of international drug traffickers had been busted thanks to co-operation between police agencies from neighbouring countries, highlighting the importance of sharing information across international borders.

He also said Viet Nam has been struggling with international hi-tech criminals, increasing crystal methamphetamine trafficking rings and armed gangs.

The latest report showed that the ministry's drug-related crime forces had arrested 29,000 drug offenders and seized 390kg of heroin, 76kg of opium, 134kg of marijuana, and 335,000 amphetamine tablets in 2012 alone.

Major Nguyen Ngoc Hanh from the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum told Viet Nam News that the Bo Y border gate has been a hot spot for worldwide criminal drug trafficking rings.

He said the province's drug police forces have faced difficulties in monitoring traffickers due to a lack of electronic detection devices and police dogs.

The ministry and the US Drug Enforcement Administration will open a training centre for counternarcotics police in Cua Lo Town in the central province of Nghe An.

The two-day conference, which drew participants from 18 countries in the Far East region, also focused on drug-related crimes and ringleaders' possible whereabouts.

Speaking to Viet Nam News, deputy director of the Anti-drug Department under the Ministry of Interior of Cambodia Leng Bunna said that trans-national drug trafficking had become more serious because of the huge influx of money from illegal drug trading.

"Drug dealers and traffickers have set up many complicated networks across the borders of many countries worldwide, so co-operation and connection among drug police forces from countries in the region will be crucial for wiping out gangs," he said.

"I cannot remember how many drug trafficking rings we have found due to close co-operation with Vietnamese narcotics enforcement police. We set up an information network on the Internet and update it with the movements of drug dealers between the two countries," he added.

He said drug traffickers often cross the border between Viet Nam and Cambodia, which police forces are unable to patrol all the time.

"They (drug traffickers) can use motorbikes or carry drugs through forests or remote areas along the borders of the two countries. So information from police agents and intelligence agencies in both countries still plays a key role in the fight against drug trafficking rings."

VNN/VOVVNS