The HCM City authorities have directed relevant agencies to review the use of land planned for public parks to have more urban green spaces from 2023 to 2025.

According to the municipal Department of Construction, the city has around 369 public parks and parks of residential areas with a total of 500 hectares. The current ratio of park areas and the city’s population is very low at only 0.55 square meter per capita.

For the past few years, the city has strived to increase public green spaces and expand public parks, but the result has not been as expected.

Most public parks are located in the inner city. There are no public parks in the suburban districts of 9, 12, Thu Duc, Binh Tan, Nha Be, Hoc Mon, Cu Chi and Binh Chanh.

The land area of some public parks was even reduced for the expansion of streets, such as Gia Dinh Park in Go Vap district and Tao Dan Park in District 1 or to use as parking lots such as Le Van Tam Park in District 1.

According to the Department of Construction, after reviewing the land reserves for public parks, the department will propose preparing construction projects and calling for investment.

The city targets to achieve 2.5-12 square meters of green space per capita by 2025.

In 2023, the city authorities will realise a plan to build 10 hectares of public parks and two hectares of green public space, planting and renovating 6,000 green trees to meet the target of 3-4 square meters of green space per capita.

Community contributes to revival of traditional festivals in Hanoi

Many traditional festivals and rituals have been revived across the capital city of Hanoi, with the community playing a decisive role.

Lang Pagoda Festival, a traditional Spring Festival of people living by the To Lich River held in the third month of the lunar calendar, is an example.

This year, for the first time in 70 years, all the folk rituals that made the Lang Pagoda Festival a unique event in the past have been restored.

Being built in the 11th century, Lang pagoda has always been a famous pagoda in Hanoi for its wide space, various antiques and Buddhist statues. The Spring festival at the pagoda is organised to show the gratitude to King Ly Than Tong (1116 - 1138) - the fifth king of the Ly Dynasty, and monk Tu Dao Hanh (1072-1116). It was a lively spring festival of the whole area that attracted people living on the sides of To Lich River nearby to attend. The festival involves ritual ceremonies and traditional games like swinging, wrestling, chess playing, tuong and cheo performances, among others.

For a long time, not all of the old rituals during the festival were carried out. However, this year, the organising committee has determined to bring back all traditional rituals of the festival such as “Te le” (offering), “Do Ha” (palanquin parade on the river) and “Dau Than” (fighting between gods). Every ritual has a unique meaning based on myths about Tu Dao Hanh.

Ha Anh Tuan, vice chairman of Dong Da district People’s Committee said the revival of traditional rituals at the Lang Pagoda Festival is of great significance, creating a distinctive feature of the city.

The same situation is seen in many other festivals in Hanoi, such as the festival of the five Moc villages, Dong Co Temple Festival, Thap Tam Trai (Thirteen Villages) Festival and Tan Vien Son Thanh (Tan Vien Mountain Saint) festival. The revival of rituals is made possible thanks to the active engagement of local communities. Local residents enthusiastically take part in discussions on restoring the rituals and choose people to perform the ceremony.

Bui Thi Huong Thuy, deputy head of the Heritage Management Office under the city’s Department of Culture and Sports, highly appreciated the role of the community in assisting the unit set up dossiers for national intangible cultural heritage and helping localities restore ancient rites. According to Thuy, many festivals and traditional rituals have been lost in the flow of time, causing regret among local communities. Therefore, when localities want to revive them, local residents are eager to join in the work.

As the national cultural centre, Hanoi has put an emphasis on investment in cultural development. The city's Party Committee has issued a programme and a resolution on cultural development.

With 1,206 traditional festivals held throughout the year, particularly in Spring, Hanoi considers them a great resource to attract tourists to the city. The capital city is among localities with the richest cultural heritage in Vietnam, with 1,793 intangible cultural heritage items, including three UNESCO-recognised Intangible Cultural Heritages of Humanity, one on UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in need of Urgent Safeguarding and one World Documentary Heritage.

Degraded old apartments put Hải Dương residents at risk

More than 250 families living in apartment buildings for pump factory workers in Hải Dương Province say they are in fear for their lives because of poor conditions. 

Their blocks have been assessed as having the highest possible danger levels, and they were told in 2020 they need to relocate, but so far, none have been moved.  

The apartment buildings were built in Nguyễn Trãi Ward, Hải Dương City between 1960 and 1970 with five two-to-three floored blocks and 11 complexes of one-floor houses. They are homes to families of Hải Dương water pump factory workers.

It is reported that all apartments have degraded. The walls have broken into pieces and the ceiling, beams and pillars are rotten.

Residents have to cover the broken walls to prevent bricks from falling and injuring someone.

Phạm Ngọc Sơn, chairman of Nguyễn Trãi Ward People’s Committee, said local authorities have assisted residents to repair degraded apartments. In 2022, a family received VNĐ20 million to replace the tiled roof with leak-proof iron roof.

He added that the construction progress of the new housing area is slow.

The People’s Committee of Hải Dương Province planned to build social housing, apartment blocks and community houses on about 7,800sq.m at Lilama 69-3 village in Bình Hàn Ward.

The social housing blocks are expected to accommodate more than 400 households living in the degraded pump factory’s apartment building and other blocks.

The blocks will be built from 2020 to 2025, according to the plan with budget sourcing from land use right auction of old apartment buildings.

Hải Dương City has 1,429 households in need of resettlement and relocation. While waiting for new locations to be approved and financial sources to be allocated, local residents still have to live in worry inside degraded blocks. 

People in Ha Giang struggle with water shortages

In four districts of Hà Giang, namely Quản Bạ, Yên Minh, Đồng Văn and Mèo Vạc, there has been no rain for months, with sources of water and reservoirs empty.

Many areas which rely on rainfall as a source of water have been put in a precarious situation as rainfall is not distributed equally.

Many areas suffer from very low rainfall, which leads to water scarcity. Water shortages have become more and more intense, especially in rural areas.

Since early this year, rainfall in many places has been lower than the average for many years. In some areas, there has not been any rain for months and prolonged heat has caused water scarcity in rural areas.

Water scarcity in these four districts has happened for many years.

With three quarters of this area made up of rugged cliffs and a small amount of forest, the water storage capacity is weak. Meanwhile, the high altitude also makes it hard for local people to exploit groundwater.

Water for domestic use, especially in the two districts of Đồng Văn and Mèo Vạc, come from the rainfed water reservoir. Hà Giang Province has started programmes and projects to provide domestic water for citizens, using support investment to build water reservoirs on a grand scale for families.

At the same time, lakes with volumes from 3,000 to 10,000 cubic metres will be built in areas with good conditions.

In these four districts, there are 121 man-made storage lakes built in mountainous areas to provide water for local communities and up to 10,000 water reservoirs in local households.

Giáp Mai Thùy, vice director of Hà Giang’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said in 2011, the province planned water-storing lakes to solve the issue.

It set the target to build 400 lakes, which will basically meet the demand for water. However, only 121 lakes have been built, so the requirement has not been met for the dry season, especially for this year when drought is drawn out.

Hà Giang Province also seeks alternatives for water, including looking for groundwater in Mèo Vạc’s Pả Vi Commune. However, due to budget and management issues, this project is inefficient.

In 2019, in Đồng Văn District, the KaWaTech project (at Séo Hồ Village, Thài Phìn Tủng Commune, Đồng Văn District) was launched by Vietnam Institute of Geosciences and Minerals, Institute of Water and Basin Management - Water Resource Management and Environmental Engineering (Federal Republic of Germany).

The project helps to pump water up to Ma Ú mountain peak and provide 1,600 cubic metres of water per day for the entirety of Đồng Văn Town and adjacent areas.

However, due to rough terrain and technical issues, this model has not been popular.

Giáp Mai Thùy, Vice director of the province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that the exploitation of surface water is still an efficient and long-term solution. In addition, locals are still developing projects to support people by building water reservoirs for families.

According to the National Strategy in Rural Water Supply and Sanitation by 2030, with a vision until 2045, Việt Nam targets to have 65 per cent of rural citizens access safely managed water supply and sanitation services by 2030 and 100 per cent of rural people access safe and sustainable clean water and sanitation by 2045. 

Localities to ensure funds for vaccines in expanded programme on immunisation: Ministry of Finance

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has said that provinces and cities will ensure vaccines for the expanded programme on immunisation this year.

The MoH set out the details in document No 5609/BTC-HCSN which has been sent to the Government Office.

Under the document, the MoF declared that after the Prime Minister approved three national target programmes last year, the MoF reviewed legal regulations for allocating funds for vaccines in the expanded programme for immunisation.

There is no regulation that the central budget will ensure funding for the vaccines in expanded vaccination.

The purchase will be conducted based on the Law on State Budget, in which funds for vaccines in localities are allocated by the local budget.

On that basis, last year the MoF sent three documents to discuss with the Ministry of Health (MoH) about the problem.

The MoF requested the MoH set estimates for this year and have instructions for localities to implement the programme.

If necessary, the MoH can consider and allocate the central budget to purchase certain drugs and vaccines for children under five years old.

The MoF also sent an official dispatch to provincial and municipal people's committees to guide a number of tasks under the health-population target programme in the 2016-20 period.

The MoH has so far received letters from 16 provinces and cities reporting difficulties.

Localities mainly have problems with expanded immunisation vaccines, tuberculosis drugs, antiretroviral (ARV) and vitamin A.

They proposed the MoH conduct bidding and negotiate prices.

The MoF suggested the MOH guide localities to conduct their work based on Document No 10095/BTC/HCSN issued on October 4 last year.

To have enough vaccines for the expanded programme on immunisation, the MoF proposed the Government Office to consider allocate budget for the MoH from the central budget reserve.

Hanoi among most searched vacation destination by domestic tourists

The capital city of Hà Nội is among the top 10 domestic destinations searched for by Vietnamese tourists on booking.com, based on the data from the online travel agency.

According to the forecast of booking.com in 2023, 74 per cent of Vietnamese tourists believe that travel is always a valuable experience for them, and over three-quarters, 78 per cent, believe that summer is the best time to travel.

Despite concerns about the global economic crisis, travellers do not intend to abandon their travel plans. Instead, they are considering more cautious budgeting for their trips.

Data from the online travel platform shows that destinations with beautiful beaches remain the top choice for Vietnamese tourists this summer. Đà Nẵng continues to hold the top position and is the most searched domestic destination by Vietnamese tourists for summer 2023, followed by Nha Trang and Phú Quốc.

Beside beaches, local tourists are also concerned about big cities such as Hà Nội and HCM City, as well as less bustling cities like Đà Lạt and Hội An Ancient Town.

All of these cities are on the list of the top 10 most searched destinations for this summer by domestic tourists that includes Đà Nẵng, Nha Trang, Phú Quốc, HCM City, Đà Lạt, Hội An, Hà Nội, Hạ Long, Huế, and Bà Rịa Vũng Tàu.

Particularly, Hà Nội has risen to 7th position in the list after being absent from the top 10 last summer.

In addition to domestic destinations, Booking.com also reveals popular international destinations chosen by Vietnamese tourists, the top of which is Bangkok in Thailand, followed by Singapore, Paris, Tokyo, Seoul and New York.

The Hà Nội Department of Tourism said the city welcomed more than 10 million travelers, up some 54 per cent over the same period last year. The city has set a target of attracting 22 million tourists this year, including three million international travellers. 

Residents in natural disaster prone Ca Mau battle landslides, rising sea levels

Landslides and high tides are living nightmares for residents in the Mekong Delta province of Cà Mau, who are relying on agriculture for their livelihoods.

Trần Thanh, a fisherwoman in Khánh Bình Tây Commune, Trần Văn Thời District, said she could never forget the time when she was on the brink of life and death during a recent high tide.

“Strong winds followed by big waves hit the embankment. The waves were so strong it swept people into the sea,” Thanh said.

Fortunately, it lasted only about 5 minutes, so Thanh managed to escape and stay safe.

The tide caused great damage to people's property, especially those living on the dyke.

The Western sea (Biển Tây) dyke which was formed in 1997 covers a length of 108km and passes through three districts: U Minh, Trần Văn Thời and Phú Tân with a total of 10 communes and two towns.

It helps to protect more than 26,000 households and nearly 129,000 hectares of agricultural and aquaculture production land.

Constant landslides and high tides during the rainy and stormy seasons have been a threat to the lives and properties of local people.

In July 2022, the province announced an emergency situation on natural disasters as there was erosion due to the influence of tropical depressions. At many sections of the West sea dyke, there were serious landslides with a high risk of dyke breaking.

Many local houses and agricultural areas were flooded.

Residents in Khánh Bình Tây Commune have been growing rice and other crops to make ends meet. In recent years, their livelihoods have been severely affected by the adverse effects of landslides and rising sea levels triggered by climate change.

Đỗ Viết Thảo in Thời Hưng Hamlet, Khánh Bình Tây Commune, said that in recent years, the concerns of flooding in rice fields would rise during the rainy season.

According to Deputy Director of Cà Mau’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Tô Quốc Nam, the average high tide is from 2.5 to 2.6 m and even higher, in recent years.

On average, landslides encroach 30-40 metres a year. In some areas, including Hố Gùi, the landslides encroached 80 m area within just a month.

It is very concerning that in the Eastern sea area, there are no dykes and embankments, so waves encroach day and night, leading to land and forest losses.

According to statistics, along 142km of the Eastern sea area, over 80km is in a state of erosion with varying degrees of severity.

Nguyễn Văn Tẻo, a resident of Tam Giang Tây Commune, Ngọc Hiển District, and his family have lived here for 18 years.

Recently, his family has had to move three times because of landslides.

His family used to have 3.6 hectares of production land, but due to landslides, it decreased to only 1.6 hectares, putting his family’s livelihoods in a very precarious situation.

As the southernmost province of the country, Cà Mau is considered one of the localities most vulnerable to climate change. The province is suffering about 17 out of 22 types of natural disasters.

According to its People's Committee, the coastal and riverbank erosion alone has damaged nearly 26km of roads and over 230 houses, with a total loss of more than VNĐ1 trillion.

In particular, this also occurs at a greater scale and frequency. In the last 10 years, landslides have lost more than 5,200 hectares of coastal forests, equivalent to the size of a commune.

The current landslides are not only happening in coastal areas, but also along about 365km of riverbanks, of which about 114km of riverbanks are eroded at a very dangerous level.

Vice Chairman of Cà Mau Provincial People's Committee Lê Văn Sử said that with the current rate of landslides, if there is no immediate solution, landslides will cause more forest loss and damage to coastal households. If landslides go deep into the mainland, not only will they destroy land and forests, but also threaten many built-in infrastructure and coastal residential areas, then the construction of landslide prevention works will not be effective. It is not only costly but also makes it very difficult to restore the lost land and forests, he said.

Cà Mau has developed a plan to prevent and control riverbank and coastal erosion until 2030.

With effort and support from the central Government, the province has built nearly 57km of embankment protection with a total cost of more than VNĐ1,800 billion.

The province is building embankments stretching nearly 31.2km, with a cost of over VNĐ1,200 billion, to protect areas at very high risk of landslides. 

Drug trafficking ring from Laos to Vietnam busted in Thanh Hoa

The police of Thanh Hoa province said on June 13 they have smashed a drug trafficking ring, confiscating large quantities of drugs that had been transported from Laos to Vietnam.

According to by police, Le Dinh Tien, 39, and Tran Trong Khanh, 36, both from Thanh Hoa, were identified as the masterminds behind the gang.

Tien was working as a driver of a bus company owned by female drug dealer Hoang Thi Thai.  Thai, also known as “Thai Chat”, was caught by Thanh Hoa police in May, 2022.

After Thai’s arrest, Tien and Khanh set up a crime group aimed at transporting and selling drugs from Laos to Vietnam.

They were caught red-handed on June 11 transporting 3,000 pills of synthetic drugs to be sold.

Expanding the case, the police arrested Luong Van Nhan, who was also involved in the drug trafficking ring.

The case is currently under further investigation.

Health ministry asks for supervision on hand-foot-mouth patients, minimise fatalities

The Ministry of Health has sent a letter to provinces and cities asking for more supervision on hand-foot-mouth disease treatment and control amid spike in infections.

The request, signed by Deputy Minister of Health Trần Văn Thuấn, was released after the country saw nearly 9,000 hand-foot-mouth cases this year in all 63 localities and three fatalities in the southern provinces of Đắk Lắk, Kiên Giang, and Long An.

The number of cases reduced by 28 per cent compared with the same period last year, however, fatalities increased by two.

Southern provinces lead the list with 6,204 cases. Northern provinces have more than 2,000 whereas central provinces have 656 and Central Highlands localities, 130 cases.

To minimise fatalities, the health ministry has asked localities to implement a range of measures.

They must set up prevention and control plans and evaluate human resources, facilities, medical equipment, drugs, chemicals and medical supplies at all medical stations to ensure readiness to receive and treat patients.

They are responsible for monitoring patients at hospitals, especially during holidays and weekends to detect and treat promptly when the patients get worse.

Medical records must be completed in detail.

When patients have abnormal developments, they must be transferred to higher-tier hospitals in time.

Hospitals must be checked based on the health ministry's Decision No1003/QĐ-BYT issued on March 30, 2012 on the diagnosis and treatment of hand-foot-mouth disease.

Localities must strengthen preventive measures in hospitals, screen and classify patients and consolidate human resources for recuperation at provincial-level hospitals.

Main hospitals such as the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases, the National Children's Hospital, the Huế Central General Hospital, the HCM City Children's Hospital, the HCM City Hospital for Tropical Diseases are required to review human resources, facilities, medical equipment, drugs and medical supplies to receive severe cases transferred from lower-level hospitals.

Those hospitals should strengthen training and organise emergency teams ready to provide professional support to provinces when needed. 

Elephant herd found on Dong Nai hill

A herd of around 10 elephants have been detected on a hill in the southern province of Dong Nai.

A representative from the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said the animals were found at Da Trang Hill in Dinh Quan District’s Thanh Son Commune. The two largest may be the parents, while the others may be their offspring.  

When seen, the elephants turned around, moved into the brush and left the area quickly.

According to forest rangers, the natural habitat of the elephants has been shrinking and they face a shortage of food. As a result, the elephant herd often comes to local fields searching for food and have damaged crops.

In the first quarter of this year, the elephant herd was found in the area in Cat Tien National Park and Dong Nai Culture and Nature Reserve eight times.

Quy Nhon Island residents struggle following boat restrictions

More than two months after wooden boats were banned, thousands of households in Nhon Chau Island Commune in Quy Nhon City find it difficult to travel to the mainland due to the cost. 

Thao, a local resident, often travels to the mainland to do paperwork, carry out medical examinations and purchase essential items. Since wooden vessels were banned from operating, she’s experienced far higher travel costs.

“In the past, a wooden boat trip cost only VND35,000 (USD1.50) but a speedboat costs VND100,000-150,000. Therefore, only those with urgent work are willing to pay such high costs to travel to the mainland,” Thao said.

In addition, tourist speedboats only carry people, not goods, so business between the island and the mainland has almost ground to a halt.

Those who earn a living by farming aquatic products find it difficult to transfer fish and shrimp to the mainland for sale.

Ho Nhat Le, chairman of Nhon Chau Commune’s People’s Committee, admitted that the new regulations were a problem.

Previously, there were two wooden boat trips every day to serve people going back and forth during the day.

Currently, the speedboat leaves at 2 pm and arrives at the mainland at 3 pm, meaning sometimes people have to get accommodation overnight on the mainland, incurring additional costs.

Nhon Chau Commune has signed a contract with a 69-seat tourist boat, carrying residents to the mainland for VND100,000 per person.

Each trip, the boat owner will take a photo of residents’ identity card and send it to the commune authorities. At the end of each month, the commune will make a list to support residents for VND50,000 per trip.

People previously just rented a wooden boat to get to Quy Nhon on the mainland for medical emergencies for around VND2 million a trip but now the cost of renting a tourist speedboat is around VND7-8 million, said a local named Nguyen Van Dao.

In case of bad weather, if the service can't run, patient's lives would be put in danger, Dao added.

Waiting for the speedboat from 7 am to nearly 10 am, Nguyen Hoang, 58, in Khanh Hoa plans to travel to Nhon Chau Island Commune to visit relatives.

Nhon Chau Island Commune is home to nearly 2,300 people. It is located nearly 30 kilometres from Quy Nhon City in the central province of Binh Dinh. Local residents previously used wooden boats operating on the Nhon Chau - Quy Nhon route to reach the mainland.

Local authorities are working with agencies to remove obstacles facing residents, making it easier for them to travel to the mainland.

HCMC Police prosecute six cases related to “black credit” activities

Ho Chi Minh City Police have prosecuted six cases with 32 defendants related to black credit activities for more than a month.

Moreover, the police force detected and seized many means of remaking spare parts and accessories of all kinds for motorbikes.

The information was provided at a conference of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Public Security on reviewing and implementing the works of propaganda and removing flyers related to “black credit”, checking facilities, units trading spare parts and accessories serving for motorbike turning activities. The conference was chaired by Colonel Mai Hoang, Deputy Director of the Municipal Department of Public Security.

For more than a month, the police of districts and Thu Duc City organized 214 send-off campaigns of removing inappropriate advertisement products, restoring the city embellishment, and strengthening monitoring and management against the violations mentioned above.

Thereby, 43 cases of illegal labeling advertisement products were handled strictly and fined.

From the information on flyers, the police force traced and made a list of 367 phone numbers related to financial loans and nearly 50 suspected subjects related to “black credit” activities to verify and prosecute six cases with 31 defendants.

Notably, Tan Binh District Police prosecuted defendants and arrested five subjects for the act of "usury in civil transactions"; District 10’s Police prosecuted the case and nine accused who are directors, heads of the departments, heads of the divisions and group leaders of the three companies of Digital Credit Trading Service Company Limited, Fincap VN Company Limited and Sofi Solutions Company Limited about the act of “usury in civil transactions” with the interest rate ranging from 153 percent to nearly 1,300 percent to illegally earn profits of VND4,123 billion (US$177 million).

The Criminal Police Division (PC02) of the Ho Chi Minh City Public Security Department collaborated with the Tan Binh and Tan Phu District Police to hold a public inquiry into two groups of subjects from the Northern provinces and cities who came to Ho Chi Minh City to operate black credit activites with interest rates from 240 percent to 695 percent a year; prosecute three cases, nine defendants for the crime of “Lending heavy interest in civil transactions”.

Moreover, the HCMC Road and Railway Traffic Police Department (PC08) under the Municipal Department of Public Security collaborated with the police of city districts and Thu Duc City to review and make a list of 19 motorbike turning facilities and 234 motorbike repair shops showing signs of involving in motorbike turning activities, trading spare parts and accessories serving for subjects having demand of motorbike turning services.

Speaking at the conference, Colonel Mai Hoang, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department commended the achievements of the units in recent times. Besides, Colonel Mai Hoang required the police of districts, Thu Duc City and professional departments to coordinate closely in the determination of preventing and repelling “black credit” activities, preventing the gathering of illegal racing and crimes on the street.

Medical experts warn of infectious disease outbreaks due to vaccine shortage

Following a shortage of many types of vaccines in the national expanded program on immunization (EPI), many health experts have warned that there may be a risk of large-scale outbreaks of infectious diseases in the coming time.

The national expanded program on immunization which provides free-of-charge immunization to 10 vaccines has helped to prevent childhood diseases like polio, tetanus, measles, tuberculosis, hepatitis B, diphtheria, pertussis, pneumonia, and meningitis.

However, in the past time, due to policy changes and problems with bidding and procurement mechanisms, some vaccines have not been provided.

Recently, resident Nguyen Quoc Ngoc in Thu Duc City took his child to the Binh Chieu Ward Medical Station to receive a free five-in-one vaccine to prevent diphtheria - whooping cough - tetanus - hepatitis B virus and Hib meningitis in the national expanded program on immunization. However, he was informed that the medical station had run out of the free vaccine and advised to pay for vaccine "6 in 1" Infanrix hexa with more than VND1 million. While he and his wife are struggling to make ends meet with the meager salary, they couldn’t afford paid vaccine, so Mr. Ngoc had no choice but to bring his child home.

Doctor Nguyen Ngoc My, Head of the Binh Chieu Ward Health Station, informed that in the past 5 months, the station has had no more free 5-in-1 vaccines to inject children. From the end of April 2023, the PDT vaccine against diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus for children aged 18-24 months has also been exhausted.

Thus, medical staff in the health station has advised parents to pay for expensive vaccines so that their children will not miss immunization schedules.

According to the national expanded program on immunization, the shortage of some vaccines began in mid-2022 and has lasted until now, leaving many young children not fully vaccinated according to the Ministry of Health’s guidelines. According to statistics in 2022, only 3/20 provinces and cities in the South have high vaccination coverage for children aged under one year. The general vaccination rate in the South region is only 79.5 percent due to the lack of vaccines in the national expanded program on immunization. The shortage of vaccines also occurs in many localities such as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Quang Ninh, Ha Nam, Can Tho, and An Giang.

In the face of a shortage of many types of vaccines in the national expanded program on immunization that prevent children from being fully immunized, many health experts have warned of a risk of large-scale outbreaks of infectious diseases in the coming time.

Healthcare experts also fretted about the reemergence of a number of diseases that Vietnam has been successful in controlling such as polio, whooping cough, measles, rubella, and diphtheria seriously affecting the results of the country’s national expanded program on immunization that Vietnam has been struggling to achieve for more than 40 years.

Worse, the polio elimination committee of the WHO Western Pacific Region reclassified Vietnam from the group of low-risk countries to the group of high-risk countries for wild poliovirus importation or the occurrence of polio cases caused by mutated strains.

42nd ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management kicks off in Da Nang

The ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM) convened its 42nd annual meeting in the central coastal city of Da Nang on June 13 under the chair of Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Hoang Hiep.

In his opening remarks, the deputy head of the steering committee for natural disasters prevention and control affirmed that Vietnam, holding the rotary chairmanship of the committee this year, is promoting the theme of “From Response to Anticipatory Action and Resilience: ASEAN Journey towards Global Leadership in Disaster Management”.

The theme emphasises an orientation switch from passive response to proactive prevention, Hiep noted.

More than 60 foreign delegates from ASEAN member states, the ASEAN Secretariat, ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre), the bloc’s development partners – China, the Republic of Korea, and Japan - and a number of international organisations in the region are attending the event.

The meeting discussed the implementation progress of the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER) Work Programme for 2021-2025; and reviewed the building and carrying out of documents, mechanisms, and activities involving regional cooperation in the field.

Also tabled are youth’s ideas for a resilient region, a communications framework for disaster risks facing the bloc, and the AHA Centre’s financial regulation, among other matters.

Lasting until June 16, the event also features the 18th meeting of the AHA Centre Governing Board, 3rd ASEAN Disaster Resilience Platform (ADRP) meeting, and meetings between the ACDM and the development partners.

Source: VNA/SGT/VNS/VOV/Dtinews/SGGP/VGP/Hanoitimes