Social work training to boost drug rehab work

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs yesterday, Sep 7, launched a three-year project to build capacity for social-work students and State social workers.

The US$200,000-project funded by the international Atlantic Philanthropies is being carried out by the ministry's Department of Social Protection with technical support from the global health and development organisation Family Health International (FHI) 360.

The project was initiated in response to the National Programme on Development of Social Work Profession for the 2010-20 period, said Nguyen Van Hoi, deputy director of the department.

Core staff from the Social Work Faculty of University of Labour and Social Affairs and provincial departments of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs in 10 selected provinces and cities, would be trained to provide professional case management services for drug users, Hoi said.

HCM City, Ha Noi, Hai Phong and Da Nang and Quang Ninh, Thanh Hoa, Khanh Hoa, Thua Thien Hue, Long An and Dong Nai provinces have been selected for the project.

Father, daughter injured in petrol bomb attack

The scene of the petrol bomb attack that caused serious burn injuries to a man and his five-year-old daughter in Hai Phong Sept 6. (Photo: Tien Phong)

Hand, foot and mouth cases may soon rise as school year starts

Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien warned parents and teachers yesterday about a likely surge in hand, foot and mouth disease cases as kindergartens opened for the new school year.

According to the ministry, there have been 42,700 reported cases of hand, foot and mouth so far this year. There were 98 fatalities from the disease – three-quarters of which involved children under three years old.

Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) has broken out in most Vietnamese cities and provinces but the majority of cases have been in the central and southern parts of the country.

Ministry figures indicate that outbreaks of the disease typically peak in March to May and September to December.

In a bid to contain the epidemic, the Health Ministry has organised 84 HFMD training courses on surveillance and prevention for grassroots preventative medicine workers and pre-school teachers.

Typical symptoms of HFMD, a common viral illness in children, include fevers, blister-like eruptions in the mouth and rashes. The infection spreads from person to person by direct physical contact.

Mother dies, family wants to bury newborn alive

A medical staff in Nam Tra My mountainous district in the central province of Quang Nam has just saved a newborn baby from being buried alive by his family.

On the afternoon of September 2, 33-year-old Ho Thi Yen, who lived in Xe Dang ethnic people community, delivered a male baby weighing 2.5kg. But, she died of hemorrhage after the delivery.

However, according to local customs and practices, her family and villagers intended to bury her together with the baby.

After being informed, Ho Thi Hieu, a staff of a health station in the district, begged his family and villagers for his life. However, they turned her down.

Hieu then took the baby in her arms and rushed him to the station.

Doctors at the center named him Quoc Khanh (the National Day).

No one has been arrested for the act.

Two substandard medicines suspended

The Ha Noi Health Department has suspended a substandard drug and revoked the distribution of another.

The drugs fail to meet dissolubility standards.

The suspended drug, Omemax-20, is used to treat digestive disorders. It is produced by India-based Axon Drugs Private Co Ltd.

The revoked drug, called Ciprofloxacin, is an antibiotic. It is imported by Ben Tre Pharmaceutical JSC.

The department ordered the company to withdraw Ciprofloxacin before September 16.

Three internet stations to be set up in Lao Cai

Northern Lao Cai Province's Information and Communications Department plans to build three public internet access stations in Bac Ha, Si Ma Cai and Muong Khuong districts.

The move is designed to improve access to science and technology for underprivileged people.

Each station will have six computers connected to the internet and one printer.

Issuance of mining licences suspended

The issuance of mining licenses has been suspended as of August 30 in an effort to better regulate the sector.

Mining is conducted in an uncontrolled manner in many localities, resulting in pollution and environmental degradation, Minister Vu Duc Dam in charge of the Government Office said.

The ministries of Natural Resources and Environment, Industry and Trade and Construction are in charge of making reports on mineral exploitation and ways to better manage the sector this month.

Boy beaten to death for stealing fruits

Police in Thanh Hoa central province are investigating into the death of 15-year-old Van Dinh Hung, who was allegedly beaten to death by local resident(s) on September 4 after being found stealing guava fruits from a garden.

His family said Hung and four of his friends living in Bac Son Ward in Sam Son District came to the river for a swim. Police suspect they swam across the other riverbank to break into a garden located in Chau Chinh hamlet in Quang Chau commune to steal fruits from a guava garden.

However, local residents caught their act and chased after them. They beat and thrust Hung down into the river, police said. He died on the way to hospital.

Eyewitnesses said Hung suffered bruises on eyes, lips, legs, hands, and noses.

Police identified Nguyen Van Duong, 46, as the culprit.

An autopsy showed Hung sustained severe injuries on the temples and suffered a dent on the head.

 Five more charged in horror gold shop murder inquiry

The People's Procuracy of northern Bac Giang Province yesterday approved a decision to prosecute five individuals for their alleged involvement in the murder of three people at a local gold shop.

One other person was injured in the incident.

Alleged murderer Le Van Luyen was arrested on August 31.

Under yesterday's decision, Luyen's family members Le Thi Dinh, Le Van Mien and Truong Thanh Hong, will be charged with hiding a criminal under Article 313 of the Criminal Code.

Hong's parents will also be charged with failing to report the location of a criminal following Article 314 of the Criminal Code.

The local People's Procuracy also decided release Luyen's mother from temporary custody due to lack of evidence in her alleged role in helping to hide the criminal.

Under the Criminal Code, those found guilty of failing to report the location of a criminal will be sentenced to between three months and three years in prison depending on the case, said Nguyen Thai Hoa, a lawyer in Ha Noi.

"Meanwhile, those who are charged with hiding a criminal will either face re-education without a prison sentence for three years, or be sentenced to between six months and five years in prison depending on the case," he said.

Luyen, 18, allegedly killed Trinh Van Ngoc, 37, owner of the gold shop, his wife Dinh Thi Chin, 35, and their 18-month-old daughter on August 24.

The attackers also chopped off the arm of another daughter, nine-year-old Trinh Ngoc Bich. Her arm was successfully reattached by doctors at the Viet Duc Hospital in Ha Noi.

Lawyer Nguyen Am, head of the Bar Association of Bac Giang Province, said Luyen may not face the death penalty or a life sentence given the fact that he was not 18 years old at the time of the murder.

Under the law, an offender cannot be sentenced to death or life in prison if he/she is less than 18 years old.

Luyen is two months shy of his 18th birthday and may only face 18 years in prison.

Death from above

One man was killed and another in a critical condition after a water container fell on their heads earlier Wednesday in Ho Chi Minh City.

Eyewitnesses said that Le Van Hau, a 23-year-old from Can Tho City, and his compatriot Dong Van Len, 18, were sitting in front of the office of a handbag company, Truong Vui, in Tan Phu District when a 500-liter water container suddenly dropped onto them from a 6-meter height.

The drop tore the canvas sheet stretched above their heads, killing Len on the spot and seriously injured Hau.

“I was riding my bike past the Truong Vui company office gate when I heard a roaring sound like something bulky about to fall down. Then I saw many workers rushed out from behind the gate,” Tran Van Nam, a passer-by, recalled.

Hau and Len are relatives, according to some workers at Truong Vui firm, adding the company hired the latter one month ago on the recommendation of the former.

Man dies after eating puffer fish, four critical

Four fishermen who ate puffer fish are recovering in hospital but remain in a critical condition, a doctor in southern Bac Lieu Province Hospital said on Tuesday.

On August 28, the fishing boat's owner died after he and the four crewmen ate the puffer fish in Ganh Hao Seagate in Dong Hai District.

Authorities often issue warnings about the dangers of eating puffer fish, which contain highly toxic tetrodotoxin. Even a small amount of the toxin is potentially lethal to humans.

Nation’s first elevated highway to be built in Binh Duong

The People’s Committee of the southern Binh Duong province on Tuesday agreed on a plan to build a 31.5km elevated highway at an estimated capital of over US$800 million.

The project, the first of its kind in the country, will be built above National Highway 13 to help ease traffic jam in the route.

The four-lane highway will start from Vinh Binh bridge in Thuan An commune, neighbouring Ho Chi Minh City , and end at the belt road in My Phuoc town, Ben Cat district.

Construction of the project is scheduled to start in 2012 and will be completed in 2014.

Police protection for anti-crime ‘Knight’

Nguyen Tang Tien, a member of the An Binh Ward anti-crime voluntary team in Binh Duong Province, has been put under police protection after being repeatedly attacked by criminals in revenge for his anti-crime activities.

The provincial Police Department yesterday ordered the police in Di An Town to take measures to safeguard the 34-year-old man, who is honored a 'knight' for his bravery in fighting crimes, and investigate a recent attack by suspect criminals on him.

The police in An Binh Ward, where Tien is living, have conducted regular patrols and set up checkpoints in the area to protect and support him.

The same day the Di An police visited Tien at his home to get more information about the attack on him on August 5.

At 4 am that day, while Tien was working at a bakery, four men came on two motorbikes and rushed inside. Two of them were armed with scimitars.

Tien fought against them with a wooden bar and then forced them back into the street.

At that time, another member of the team, who was patrolling on the street, rushed to Tien’s support and they managed to chase away the attackers. Neither man was injured.

Tien said one of the attackers was a man who had attacked him two days earlier in revenge for Tien’s investigation of a theft.

Earlier, on June 27, he was attacked with swords by Vu Duc Tuan, 33, aka Tuan “dog”, and three other men at his home.

Three days earlier, one of Tuan’s gang members had been busted by Tien stealing a motorbike in Di An town.

Tien suffered deep cuts in both hands and his right thigh, and was in hospital for several days.

The police later arrested Tuan “dog” and his accomplices and said they had been watching him for more than five years on suspicion his gang was stealing motorbikes in Binh Duong.

Japan to recruit Vietnamese workers

As many businesses have resumed normal activity after the devastating earthquake and tsunami in March, Japan is in need of a large quantity of foreign workers, with priority to be given to those from Vietnam, a labor official said.

Nguyen Gia Liem, head of the Board for Management of Vietnamese Workers in Japan, released the news recently and said 17,000 Vietnamese workers have been working in Japan with an average salary of about US$1,000 per month.

Japanese companies highly value the hard-working nature of Vietnamese workers and their sympathies with Japanese employers who have suffered many difficulties after the disasters, said Nguyen Xuan Vui, chairman and CEO of the Air Service Supply Joint Stock Company.

After the disasters, the Japanese labor market is opening more to foreign workers, who usually work on 3-year contracts, Vui said, adding that after termination of the contracts, those workers will be skillful and have a professional working manner.

Many Japanese corporations want to take in a lot of foreign workers in the fields of mechanics, electro-mechanics and mechanical engineering, said Tran Van Thanh, deputy director of the Labor and Expert Export Company (Suleco).

The cost for every Vietnamese worker to be sent to Japan is about VND40 million (US$1,920), including expenses on Japanese language training, brokerage fee, medical check-ups, etc., he said.

In order to improve the safety of the working environment after the Fukushima nuclear power incident last March, Japanese companies have provided sufficient information about radiation levels in Japan to Vietnamese people who wish to work in the country.

At a recent conference in Da Nang City to discuss the national employment program for 2011 and the labor export plan for 2011-2015, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs said Vietnam will export 80,000-100,000 workers per year in the period.

Of these workers, 40 percent are poor people or people eligible to benefit from government’s subsidies, the ministry said.

People to be sent abroad to work in the period will be given soft loans, subsidized vocational training, and legal procedure assistance.

Last year the country created 1.6 million jobs and exported 85,000 workers, up 14.8 percent from 2009.

In the first six months of 2011, Vietnam sent more than 60,530 people abroad for work, including 23,673 to Taiwan, 14,134 to South Korea, and 6,664 to Malaysia – there leading markets for Vietnam’s labor export industry, said the Overseas Labor Management Department.