Social Highlights for November 22 Figure of vaccinated children drops in Da Lat Town Around 1,618 infants or 45 percent were injected with the Korean-made vaccine Quinvaxem in the central highland town of Da Lat, according to Dr. Chu The Vinh, Head of Preventive Medicine Center in Da Lat Town in Lam Dong Province. The figure shows a sharp fall in vaccinations in children compared to previous times when 90 percent were vaccinated, due to adverse information that worried parents. The vaccine Quinvaxem had been earlier suspended due to post-vaccination reactions in children, but then again re-used after several months. Dr. Vinh said six toddlers who were hospitalized after vaccination from November 14 -16 have been discharged from hospitals. They were taken to Lam Dong General Hospital as they suffered side effects from the vaccine, such as fever and vomiting. One of them even turned blue and developed convulsion fits. In addition, 20 others were also taken to health centers in districts and communes for post vaccination side effects. 10 motorbikes seized from foreign caravan in Saigon Ten motorcycles bearing Thai number plates were held as their foreign drivers violated traffic laws and could not produce driving licenses on Monday. At 8:30am on November 20, local traffic policemen found the motorbikes travelling on a banned road in district 9 near Suoi Tien Cultural Park and pulled them over. But none of the motorists were able to show valid driving papers so their bikes were seized pending investigations. Two Vietnamese tour guides accompanying the group showed a document signed by the Ministry of Transport that authorized Binh An Commercial and Tourism Services Joint-Stock Company to organize an automobile and motorcycle caravan in Vietnam for tourism purposes from November 16 to 23. The caravan is supposed to travel through Thailand - Bo Y border gate in Kon Tum - Phan Thiet, Ho Chi Minh City - Da Lat - Pleiku – and back to Bo Y border gate. Increased demand for Japanese purple sweet potato Many farmers in the Mekong Delta are expanding their fields to cultivate Japanese purple sweet potato because of enormous increase in demand for export. Huynh Van Quan, Deputy Director of Tan Thanh Cooperative in Vinh Long Province, said that for days the price of Japanese purple sweet potato has continued to rise. The agricultural produce fetches around VND800,000 (US$38) per quintal which brings high profits for farmers. Floods in some districts in the Mekong Delta have caused decrease in cultivation but there is still an increase in export demand. Vietnam attends UN’s charity fair in Geneva Vietnam’s permanent mission to the United Nations, the WTO and other international organisations in Geneva joined 63 other nations at a charity bazaar held at the UN headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on November 19. The charity fair, organised by the UN Women’s Guild every year, was among efforts to raise money for needy children around the planet. The Vietnamese booth selling traditional food, handicrafts and silk products attracted a large number of visitors. All the proceeds will be donated to projects helping disadvantaged children in the world, including those in Vietnam. Almost 6,000 visitors came to the bazaar to buy gifts, enjoy a variety of food and cultural activities, and also bought lottery tickets to raise fund for the children. The UN Women’s Guild has so far donated 6.7 million CHF (US$7.3 million) to around 1,600 projects in over 100 countries. US presents personal protective equipment to Vietnamese vets The US Agency for International Development ( USAID) has provided 4,000 sets of personal protective equipment to Vietnam, the US Embassy in Hanoi announced on November 20. The provision aims to help animal health workers respond quickly to potential new outbreaks of avian influenza, infectious disease and other emerging pandemic threats. The equipment provides critical protection for those working on the frontlines of avian influenza and pandemic outbreaks, said USAID Mission Director Joakim Parker. The supplies, including 1,000 masks, 1,000 goggles and 4,000 gloves, are being sent to regional centres and provinces throughout the country most at risk of bird flu or in greatest need of the supplies. This assistance package, valued at 50,000 USD, comes at the request of Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, with technical support from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Since 2005, USAID has provided over 50 million USD in support of Vietnam's programmes to combat avian influenza, including more than 64,000 complete sets of personal protective equipment.- ANZ involved in educational community partnership November 20 saw the announcement, by ANZ and the Saigon Children’s Charity (SCC), of a three year community education program called Project 3E: educate, enrich, employ. The project aims to provide quality education in the fight against poverty, enrich people’s quality of life and support the employment prospects of more than 4,000 disadvantaged children and young people living in Long My district, the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang. CEO of ANZ bank, Tareq Muhmood, has pledged to raise more than US$600,000 to support this initiative over a three year period. “Our target is to ultimately make sustainable change in the community of Long My, one of the poorest areas in the Mekong Delta,” he said. “ANZ staff in Vietnam and around the world can commit their time, money and other resources to enhance young people's learning and capacity to make a difference through this community education partnership. We hope to provide some of Vietnam’s most marginalised and impoverished young people with access to quality education and life skills, as well as a better and brighter future,” Mr Muhmood added. SCC Director Paul Finnis said “We applaud the outstanding efforts of ANZ to support disadvantaged children in Vietnam, especially those in Long My, by working in conjunction with SCC.” “Sustainability is key to the success of any community project. We believe the holistic and focussed approach of Project 3E will provide the necessary tools for disadvantaged children and young people in Long My to have a fairer start in life and help them reach their full potential through  quality education which is essential to their needs,” he noted. ANZ was named the most sustainable global bank in the 2013 Dow Jones Sustainability Index, for the sixth time in seven years and was also the first international bank to operate out of Vietnam, opening its first office in 1993. SCC is a UK registered NGO which has been operating in Vietnam for 20 years. SCC builds schools, award scholarships, provide access to vocational training and support organisations working with disabled children. Festival to promote Vietnam-China youth exchange China’s Guangxi province is scheduled to host the second Vietnam-China Youth Festival from November 24-27. According to a Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union’s November 20 press briefing, with a theme of strengthening solidarity and boosting future cooperation, the event is expected to attract around 3,000 young Vietnamese and nearly 6,000 outstanding young people from China. The festival is a practical event aimed at fostering friendship, mutual understanding and trust between the younger generations of the two countries, helping strengthen the cooperation partnership between Vietnam and China. Itwill be held in eight Chinese cities, including  Liuzhou, Beihai, Qinzhou, Fangchenggang, and Nanning. Participants will visit various ancient relics associated with Vietnam’s revolutionary history, join exchanges with local peers and take part inenvironmental protection activities such as a friendship tree-planting programme. Danang, Japanese cities cooperate in urban development A seminar organised by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Yokohama International Cooperation Centre, and the Danang municipal People’s Committee was held in Vietnam’s central city, Danang. The event, focusing on comprehensive cooperation in urban development between Danang and various Japanese cities, was well- attended by Vietnamese and Japanese officials and professional experts. They exchanged information and shared sustainable urban development experience and discussed measures on building a global future model for urban management. The delegates agreed that Danang should evolve itself into a key economic region for central Vietnam by developing major projects on airports, and seaports and providing major transport links connecting the north to the south. It was also suggested that the city should prioritize tackling natural disasters, protecting ecological systems and preserving cultural heritage. Danang currently has 278 foreign-invested projects capitalized atUS$3.3 billion. Japan ranks first in the number of projects with 68 and third in registered investment worth US$355.5 million, generating jobs for more than 27,000 Vietnamese workers. President meets with women OV delegation President Truong Tan Sang has hosted a meeting with a delegation of overseas Vietnamese (OV) women who are attending a conference for Vietnamese women living abroad. The conference themed “promoting overseas Vietnamese women’s roles and potential in developing their communities abroad and their home country” was co-organized by the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs and Vietnam Women’s Union. Delegates briefed President Sang on the situation of Vietnamese women living abroad, noting that the number of such women is on the rise and they are having significant influence on the community’s development. The conference offered a good opportunity for over 200 delegates from 28 nations and territories to share experience in working abroad and integrating into the host community. The OV women said they hope more specific Party and State policies will be adopted for the Vietnamese living abroad and will receive more support to overseas Vietnamese communities in the teaching Vietnamese language for young generations. Sang affirmed that the overseas Vietnamese community is an indispensible part of the Vietnamese nation in which OV women play an important role in preserving the mother language, traditions and culture. Such a conference should be held regularly to help connect the OVs and the homeland, he added. Supervision of public toilets key to sanitation Ha Noi National Assembly deputies want the city authority to supervise construction of public works funded by the State budget to avoid unnecessary waste. This was the message from Trinh Ngoc Thach, vice chairman of the National Assembly's Committee for Culture, Education, Adolescents and Children Affairs in a statement to Tien phong (Vaguards) newspaper after the municipal People's Committee approved construction of 14 steel public toilets worth VND15 billion (US$750,000). The city has asked the Ha Noi Urban Environment Company to build 14 standard toilet blocks, including 10 facilities with two toilets and the remaining four housing four toilets. Each facility is expected to have an area of between 25-30 square metres. The toilets will be located in densely populated public areas to serve both city dwellers and tourists. The State budget backed project will kick off later this year. "I'm not sure how this project will be carried out, but it seems to be too expensive," Thach said. "No matter how huge the construction work is, it must be cost-effective for users, or else it will be a waste." Nguyen Manh Cuong, director of the Ha Noi Urban Environment Company, said the firm and consultancy unit had carefully surveyed the positions and designs of public toilets. It also worked with sanitation equipment producers before calculating the cost. "The actual cost of a toilet facility is only around VND300-350 million ($14,100-$16,450), but there are other costs, such as rooms for the workers, sanitation equipment, costs for installing water pipes, electricity and consultancy," he said. According to Cuong, this was an initial estimation. The company would work with relevant units to map out the progress, and the project would be supervised by the municipal Department of Finance. Currently, there are 310 public toilets in the four urban districts of Ba Dinh, Hoan Kiem, Hai Ba Trung and Dong Da. Another 16 public toilets are also located in the Old Quarter, the city's main tourism attraction. However, many of these are unused or abandoned. For example, six public toilets were built in the West Lake area, but now some workers have been seen sleeping in them due to a shortage of users. Others have degraded and smell so bad that nobody wants to use them. Nguyen My Huyen, a resident in Hoan Kiem District's Hang Chieu Street, said she barely used public toilets for fear of the terrible odours. "Even the standard one in Le Thai To Street, the cleanest I've ever known in the city, has a bad smell sometimes when workers forget to clean it," Huyen said. James Godber, a British man who has lived in Ha Noi for four years, said the steel toilet near Hoan Kiem Lake was the only one he knew of. "I have to go to coffee shops, bars or shops when nature calls. Public toilets are scarce and hard to find," he said. More emergency aid for flood-hit provinces he Viet Nam Red Cross yesterday decided to provide VND1.12 billion (US$533,000) in emergency aid to five flood-affected central provinces, including Binh Dinh, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Kon Tum and Gia Lai. The donations to be provided to poor families affected by the floods includes products for families, water purification pills, and money for buying food and essential commodities. Previously, the Binh Dinh Provincial Red Cross had provided 6,000 boxes of instant noodles, 3,000 fast-food portions and 2,000 litres of drinking water to flood victims in the province. On a visit to Quang Nam Province and Da Nang City, Deputy PM Hoang Trung Hai yesterday asked each locality to focus on activities that would help people overcome difficulties and stabilise their lives and production. Hai urged the two localities to improve their methods of weather forecasting and to provide timely information on storms, floods or the release of water from the power plant's reservoirs to minimise the impact of natural disasters and floods. The province and city were asked to provide enough food and clean water to everyone affected by the floods . Quang Nam Province has asked the Government to support the provision of $4.2 million in aid for repairing facilities that help the community, schools, and medical clinics and for buying rice seed to grow crops. Local man fined for trafficking red timber The People's Committee in the central province of Phu Yen on Tuesday fined a man and a woman VND75 million (US$3,600) each for illegally transporting and trading valuable timber. Le Thi Le Thu, director of the Dak Lak-based Hanh Phat Dat Trade Co Ltd, was found to have illegally purchased 114 blocks of Balau timber. This lumber falls into the category of rare woods. Earlier last week, a fine of VND450 million ($21,600) was handed down to Le Xuan Tung from central Thanh Hoa Province for driving an ambulance with fake licence plates while illegally transporting 49 Sunda pangolins, which are categorised as a rare species. Universities partner to boost emergency care A delegation of medical professionals from the University of Utah's School of Medicine provided information on first aid training to 50 Vietnamese physicians during their visit to HCM City yesterday. The initiative was designed to enhance the knowledge and skills of healthcare professionals working in emergency room settings in Viet Nam. Children hospitalised for quinvaxem reactions More than 300 children in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong are recovering from reactions to a combined Quinvaxem vaccination, reported the provincial Preventive Medicine Centre. According to Tran Thi Thu Huong, the centre's deputy director, of the 12,287 children who received the 5-in-1 vaccine during November 1-18, 310 children had adverse reactions, complaining of light fever and body aches after the injection. Another 10 cases, she said, were reported to be in critical condition, presenting symptoms of fever and vomiting. Huong said most of the children have since recovered and have been discharged from hospital after treatment and monitoring. Ha Noi tightens monitoring of private clinics Unlicensed private clinics in the capital of Ha Noi will be shut down, beginning next year, according to an urgent notice recently issued by the city's Department of Health. Accordingly, all private clinics are required to complete all registration procedures by the end of today. Statistics from the department show that there are 561 clinics and 178 other traditional medicine units operating without proper licences across Ha Noi. The move came in response to health complications and fatalities caused by instances of malpractice at illegal clinics in the city. Most recently, a doctor operating at an unlicensed beauty salon in Ha Noi was suspected of dumping into a river the body of a woman who had died after cosmetic surgery. Workshop discusses genetic resources Viet Nam hopes to become one of the official members of the Nagoya Protocol in 2014 in order to increase access and benefit-sharing of genetic resources, heard a workshop yesterday in Ha Noi. The country faces many challenges such as limited awareness about genetic resources, inadequate State and management capacity and a lack of legal tools or a database on genetic resources, according to the Viet Nam Environment Administration. Hoang Thi Thanh Nhan, Deputy Head of Biodiversity Conservation Agency under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, said that documents were ready to submit to the Government for ratifying the Nagoya Protocol. Doing so would offer Viet Nam the opportunity to conserve biodiversity, contributing to the national goals of hunger elimination and poverty reduction and allowing Viet Nam to provide genetic resources to the international market, said Pham Anh Cuong, head of the agency. The country planned to set up a stable legal system for protecting the rights and obligations of genetic resource providers in Viet Nam. Under the road map, this legal system would be finished and management capacity would be improved by 2018. At the event, participants from 10 countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations along with Timor-Leste discussed how legislation could accelerate access and benefit-sharing of genetic resources to benefit millions of people who rely on biodiversity for their livelihood. The workshop, part of a regional project on building the capacity of Southern Asian countries to work together in promoting access and benefit-sharing of genetic resources through national legislation, was funded by the United Nations Environment Programme – Global Environment Fund. The protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilisation to the Convention on Biological Diversity is an international agreement that aims to share the benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources in a fair and equitable way. It was adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in 2010 in Nagoya, Japan. Fines levied for illegal transportation of wild animals and restricted items The People's Committee in the central province of Phu Yen yesterday fined a man and a woman VND75 million (US$3,600) each for illegally transporting and trading valuable timber. Le Thi Le Thu, director of the Dak Lak-based Hanh Phat Dat Trade Ltd, was found to have illegally purchased 114 blocks of Balau timber, measuring 11,887 cubic metres in total. This lumber falls into the category of Group II rare woods. Besides being fined, driver Le Xuan Rin had his driving licence suspended for six months. Earlier last week, the People's Committee had handed down a VND450-million (US$21,600) fine to Le Xuan Tung from the northern province of Thanh Hoa for driving an ambulance with fake licence plates while illegally transporting 49 Sunda pangolins, which are categorised as an endangered and rare species under Group IIB. The animals weighed 255.8 kilogrammes in total. Efforts made to preserve Khmer people’s traditional culture The Ethnic Board of southern Tra Vinh province will build 44 crematoriums to replace outdated ones used by the Khmer people in the region. Cremation of the dead is customary among the Khmer ethnic community in the region, who are mostly followers of Buddhist Theravada. The ash is then put in an urn kept at home or at pagodas. The 44.6 billion VND (2.1 million USD) project will run until 2015 and forms part of the province’s efforts to preserve the Khmer’s traditional culture while ensuring environmental hygiene. Over the past five years, Tra Vinh province has invested nearly 53 billion VND in building almost 100 crematoriums at Khmer pagodas and residential areas. The locality is home to 141 Khmer Nam Tong (Theravada) pagodas which are scattered across eight towns and districts.- Hanoi-Moscow scheme starts operation The Hanoi-Moscow cultural, trading and hotel centre was inaugurated in Moscow , Russia , on November 20. The event was attended by Politburo member and secretary of Hanoi municipal Party Committee Pham Quang Nghi and Vice Chairman of Hanoi municipal People’s Committee Vu Hong Khanh, who are on a visit to Moscow, as well as the Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Pham Xuan Son and representatives from Moscow administration. The facility, a result of the cooperation between Hanoi and Moscow , aims to provide overseas Vietnamese people in Russia with permanent trading and housing space as well as facilitate Vietnam ’s exports to the country and other SNG members. The centre was built by INCENTRA JSC of Eurowindow Holding at a cost of nearly 240 million USD on a 4.9ha plot of land, housing a modern shopping complex and a 21-storey apartment-hotel building. A pagoda built after the One-Pillar Pagoda, one of Hanoi ’s symbols, was also inaugurated at the centre on the same day.- VNA presents house to AO victim in Binh Thuan Vietnam News Agency (VNA)’s Fund for Agent Orange (AO) Pain on November 20 handed over a 30-million VND (1,400 USD) house to an AO victim in the southern province of Binh Thuan. The house is built for Nguyen Van No, in Tuy Phong district, who suffered from the side-effects of Agent Orange as a consequence of being exposed to the toxic herbicide sprayed by the US army during the wartime. The VNA’s fund was founded in 2006 with hopes to relieve the pain of AO victims throughout the country as well as to call for assistance from organisations and individuals to them. Besides the VNA’s help, the Association of AO Victims in Binh Thuan province has presented 1,000 sets of gift worth nearly 400 million VND to local victims since August 2013. The association is calling for donations to build a care centre for AO victims, hoping to start construction next year. Despite not being a hot spot of AO spraying in the past war, Binh Thuan counts 5,500 victims, most of them living in poverty. Dialogue with workers can minimise strikes Direct dialogue will help create a harmonious relationship between employers and workers, reducing strikes, said labour officials, trade union activists and business representatives. The view was shared at a workshop on November 19 in the southern province of Dong Nai with 50 local businesses participating. Most held the view that if workers’ recommendations and problems are addressed directly, it will bring win-win benefits for both employers and labourers, avoiding possible strike action. Direct dialogue also creates space for workers to get an insight into State labour laws and the working regulations of their companies, they said. Provincial labour officials took the occasion to explain legal regulations on collective labour contracts and negotiations to businesses. Ha Tinh holds reburial ceremony for 54 fallen soldiers The military command of Huong Khe district, the central province of Ha Tinh, have worked in collaboration with provincial authorities and agencies to hold a ceremony re-burying the remains of 54 martyrs in a local cemetery on Nov. 19-20. The soldiers died at Local Army Hospital 46 under the Command of Military Zone 4 in Huong Khe district during the war. Only five of the remains have had their names and hometowns identified. The ceremony expresses the deep gratitude of citizens to the fallen soldiers’ for their sacrifices in the cause of national liberation.- Dedicated teachers in northwestern region Despite difficulties, teachers in the northwestern province of Son La are determined to devote their life to teaching young children. They are working to overcome obstacles and encourage children to go to school. In Hang Dong commune, Bac Yen district, simple classrooms are covered by smog all year-round. However, teachers and pupils at a local primary school still go to school every day. Bui Van Thanh who comes from the Red River Delta province of Hung Yen has been living in Bac Yen for 20 years. He had to walk dozens of kilometres to class on his first school day. This, however, could not prevent his love for the children and his determination to stay and teach them. “The first day I came here, the classes were not in as good condition as they are now,” said Thanh. “There was only one class for all the grades from one to five. So the pupils had to take turns to study.” Hang Dong is Bac Yen’s most newly established commune. The whole locality is home to seven school branches, the furthest one being 30km away from the centre. Due to transport difficulties, the teachers have to walk to school. Teacher Lo Van Huan said at first, he was discouraged. However, he gradually got used to walking to school. “I decided to choose Hang Dong as my second hometown and became determined to contribute to developing the locality,” he said. As most of the local people here are Mong ethnic minorities, teachers face difficulties in communication. But this did not prevent them from learning the ethnic language to talk to the locals. “I found the first difficulty to be the language difference,” teacher Dinh Thi Dung said. “The teachers have to learn the Mong language in order to communicate with the students and their parents. For students at the first grade, we have to teach in both the Mong and Vietnamese languages.” With their great love and determination, it is hoped that the teachers will overcome all difficulties to work in the mountainous region and help make the students’ dreams come true. Exhibition promotes investment into Vietnam’s IZs The 2013 Exhibition for Investment Promotion into Vietnam’s Industrial Zones (VietIZ 2013) will be held in Hanoi from November 28-30, aiming to connect Vietnam’s industrial and economic zones (IEZs) with domestic and foreign investors. Held by the Vietnam Invest Network Corp. and the Ministry of Planning and Investment, VietIZ 2013 will create a chance for IEZs to promote their images and trademarks, and strengthen competitiveness, as well as provide investors with necessary information, thus contributing to intensifying investment promotion activities into Vietnam. Speaking at the November 19 press conference, the corporation’s General Director Nguyen Viet Anh said that the exhibition will highlight the image, potential and advantages of Vietnam’s IEZs through their maps and documents, and a list of projects calling for investment into IZs. A seminar on boosting investment will take place within the framework of the three-day event, providing investors with latest information and policies on management, investment and development activities of IEZs.- HIV/AIDS fight in Asia-Pacific far from over: UN The United Nations Children’s Fund ( UNICEF ) has voiced deep concern over high HIV/AIDS infection among children and teenagers in Asia-Pacific and called for accelerated actions to address the specific needs of this vulnerable group and wipe out the pandemic. “We have the opportunity to raise an AIDS-free generation in Asia and the Pacific,” said Dr. Isiye Ndombi, UNICEF’s Deputy Regional Director for East Asia and the Pacific at the 11 th conference on AIDS in Asia-Pacific on November 19. He underscored “Of great importance is to ensure that no child is born with HIV and that those children living with HIV have access to the treatment, care and support they need to remain alive and well”. According to new figures released on the day by UNICEF, some 350,000 people newly infected with HIV in Asia and the Pacific in 2012, with children under 14 years old accounting for over 6 percent and adolescents in the 10 to 19 age bracket, 17 percent. Moreover, about 240,000 teenagers in the region are currently living with HIV. The region has seen a 9 percent reduction in new HIV infections among newborns between 2010 and 2012. However, this progress still falls far short of the Millennium Development Goal 6 on reducing new HIV infections in every country by 90 percent.- Seminar held on academic reform Domestic and foreign educators were brought together at a seminar held in Hanoi on November 19 to discuss key academic issues in the 21 st century. They focused on reforming and modernising pedagogic technology, textbooks and testing assessments as well as opening more training courses for teachers to sharpen their skills. Participants talked about the implementation of policies comprehensively reforming the education and training sector to meet the requirements of industrialisation and modernisation in the socialist-oriented market economy and international integration. They also shared experience in utilising didactic equipment effectively and creating efficient education strategies. They agreed that the use of interactive and modern equipment will be the key to teaching and learning productivity, further helping interaction between teachers and students and between the students themselves.- Source: VOV/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri