Social News 21/8    Flash floods, landslides cause over VND3 trillion losses Though Vietnam has extensive experience dealing with natural disasters, climate change their frequency and intensity are on the rise, inflicting great loss of life and property. The Central Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention and Control also disclosed at an online meeting on August 20 that since 2000, over 250 flash floods and landslides have left 646 dead or unaccounted for, and injured nearly 351 others. The disasters swept away more than 9,700 houses, submerged another 100,000, and flooded 75,000 hectares of rice and subsidiary crops with estimated damages in excess of VND3.3 trillion. The National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting (NCHMF) says it is difficult to accurately forecast flash floods and landslides so devising appropriate and effective methods to prevent and minimise losses is crucially important. Provinces continually hit with natural disasters include Lao Cai, Ha Giang, Lai Chau, Son La, Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Yen Bai, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Nam, Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Dak Lak, and Binh Thuan. 1,328 Vietnamese labourers safely evacuated from Libya As of August 19, as many as 1,328 Vietnamese workers in war-torn Libya have been successfully evacuated to the homeland, according to the Department for Overseas Labour Management. The evacuation faced a number of obstacles due to the fact the workers were divided into small bands spread out throughout the war torn nation of Libya. The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and the Vietnamese Embassy in Libya are working hand in hand to assist more Vietnamese workers return home in the coming time. Northern Son La province hit by 4-Richter quake A 4-Richter quake shook Muong La district in the northwestern mountainous province of Son La in the early morning of August 20, becoming the sixth hitting the locality so far this year. According to the National Earthquake and Tsunami Warning Centre under the Institute of Geophysics , the quake occurred at 6:50 and had its epicentre at 21.598 degrees north latitude and 103.969 degrees east longitude, with its depth of 10km. Local authorities said no damage in property and lives have yet been reported. However, the quake left several cracks on the walls of some houses in It Ong town in Muong La district. Earlier on August 11 and 12, two quakes scaling 3 and 3.1 Richter, respectively, also hit Muong La district – a vulnerable locality to earthquake as it sits on the Muong La-Bac Yen Fault. Typhoon wreaks havoc in Dien Bien While Typhoon Rammasun ended nearly a month ago, the northern province of Dien Bien is still dealing with the consequences. In Nam Po District, the typhoon was the largest in 20 years and caused losses of VND35 billion (US$1.6 million), accounting for nearly half the provincial total. The district lost 220ha of rice in the typhoon, said Nguyen Ngoc Binh, director of the Nam Po District Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. One rice field in Na Hy Commune that used to supply rice for hundreds of households had become a 40-60 centimetre deep sandbank. Last month, the department began supporting local residents by providing them short-term rice seeds, according to Binh. For those whose fields were filled with sand, preventing them from planting rice, the department provided peanut and soybean seeds. However, this effort was hindered by a lack of financial resources. The Ministry of Finance regulated that residents would be supported with VND2 million (US$95) for each hectare of damaged rice field. But this was not enough to plant peanuts and soybeans, which cost about VND8 million (US$380) per hectare. "So the work of planting peanuts and soybeans could not be conducted," Binh said. The typhoon also caused landslides across most roads in the district, damaging about 76km of road. As most of the roads were not covered with concrete, they were now mud puddles. Since repair work was not completed, residents could not travel by motorbike and had to walk everywhere, said Mua Cho Sung, chairman of the Vang Dan Commune People's Committee. The typhoon also damaged nearly 70 houses, destroyed more than 1,500 meters of irrigational channels and destroyed the electric system in Na Hy, Vang Dan and Na Bung communes. Chu Van Su, director of the Nam Po District Structure and Infrastructure Department, said that the department had proposed the district and provincial authorities arrange funds to repair the irrigation, clean water and transport systems. Quang Binh fines company for causing pollution The Hung Duc Joint Stock Company has been fined VND80 million (US$4,000) by the Quang Binh People's Committee for causing environmental pollution. In addition, the company has been asked to organise the clean-up of the environment, including of water sources and land. The company had bought 3,000 litres of diesel for the national road 1A expansion project in the province's Quang Dong Commune, Bo Trach District, on May 16. However, the next day the firm found that the entire quantity of the oil had leaked through a hole in the diesel barrel, seriously impacting the lives of 10 households in the neighbourhood. Hai Phong police seize tonne of ivory Customs officials and Environmental Police seized around a tonne of ivory in northern Hai Phong City yesterday. The ivory arrived last Thursday in four containers shipped to Hai Phong Port from Nigeria. Relevant documents said the containers contained peanuts. The provincial customs officials decided to check the containers and found elephant tusks hidden under peanut packages. Elephant ivory is banned from import or export in Viet Nam. The case is under investigation. Electronic tollbooths to replace manual An electronic toll collection system will be deployed along expanded National Highway No1 and part of HCM Expressway in the Central Highland region after construction has completed next year, according to the Transport Ministry. The ministry was planning to expand the system to replace manual tolls at all roads nationwide, said Transport Minister Dinh La Thang at conference on the issue this month. He said that manual tolls on national highways were wasting time and causing congestion with vehicles having to stop to pay fees manually. Since 2010, the Viet Nam Directorate for Roads of Viet Nam, Vietinbank and investors with Build-Operate-Transfer contracts has co-operated to fit electronic toll technology at 23 toll stations nationwide. With the bank's OBU card and transponder installed on vehicles, drivers would not have to stop to pay tolls, with the fees to be prepaid or collected automatically from an affiliated credit card service. Nearly 50,000 OBU card holders use the service available at toll booths including those at Can Tho Bridge, Da Nang Airport, Tan Son Nhat Airport, and National Highway 51 Bien Hoa – Vung Tau. Deputy Transport Minister Nguyen Hong Truong said that the ministry had stopped more than 20 projects to build traditional manual toll stations along National Highway No1 and part of the HCM Expressway. He said that the ministry was still assessing which toll collection technology to use. The technology was also required to monitor the load and speed of vehicles and count the number of vehicles that run through toll stations, he said. Laos appeals for Vietnam’s help in army personnel training An official from the General Department of Politics under the Lao People’s Army has expressed hope to receive more assistance from Vietnam in personnel training. Lieut. Col. Sombat Bunkhamkong, who led a delegation from the Lao department’s Organisation and Personnel Divisions to Vietnam , made the wish while meeting with Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Trong Nghia, deputy head of the Vietnam People’s Army’s General Department of Politics, in Hanoi on August 19. At the reception, Nghia highlighted the effective cooperation between the two armies in the Party building and cadre training, and suggested the application of information technology in the field. Vietnam and Laos should increase all-level delegation exchanges and share experience in carrying out political missions, he noted. ASEAN experts learn about climate change negotiation skills Leading climate change negotiators from ASEAN countries are attending a conference in Hanoi from August 19-21, aiming to strengthen their capacity to engage in international climate change negotiations. The conference, co-organised by Vietnam’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) and the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office with technical support from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), will also update participants on climate change policies under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). MNRE Deputy Minister Tran Hong Ha said at a global climate change conference in Warsaw, Poland, in 2013, UNFCCC parties set a target of reaching a global agreement on climate change by 2015. However, it is no easy task to meet the target, as there are different viewpoints between developed and developing nations, financial sources pooled for climate change adaptation remain limited, and parties have yet to agree on the amount of greenhouse emissions to be cut. UNDP Vietnam Deputy Director Bakhodir Burkhanov said UNDP has conducted many similar conferences for ASEAN negotiators in recent years, and the crux of the matter is that parties concerned should take into consideration practical contents for negotiations. UNDP believes that mitigation and adaptation will be considered in future climate change agreements, and developed and developing countries should arrive at a consensus on this matter as soon as possible, Burkhanov said, adding this requires negotiators to have deep understanding about complicated issues. As a strategic partner of Vietnam, the UK pledges to help Vietnam cope with climate change to ensure sustainable socio-economic development, said Andrew Holt from the UK Embassy. The conference will equip negotiators from Vietnam and other ASEAN countries with skills necessary for international negotiations, hoping reach a new global agreement on climate change by 2015, Andrew said. Quang Ngai asks for funding for Ly Son development The central province of Quang Ngai has asked the Government for a funding of 2.3 trillion VND (108.1 million USD) for the development of infrastructure in its Ly Son island district. The money was suggested to come from an ODA source of the Republic of Korea. According to the provincial People’s Committee, the investment aims to help Ly Son, which lies in the East Sea, fully tap its potential. Key items to be constructed there include an undersea cable system linking Dao Lon (Big island) and Dao Be (Small island), a coastal dike system, a preventive medicine centre, among others. A number of cultural and historical works such as a Hoang Sa-Truong Sa museum will also be built, together with an infrastructure system serving tourism, said the committee. Fifteen nautical miles from land, Ly Son Island, covering 10 sq.km, is the only island district of Quang Ngai. It lies on the sea route from the north to the south of Vietnam and at the gateway of Quang Ngai’s Dung Quat Economic Zone, as well as of the central key economic region. Due to this geographical location, Ly Son holds favourable conditions to boost socio-economic development and acts as a front administrative unit safeguarding Vietnam’s sea sovereignty. More Vietnamese students receive Odon Vallet scholarship The Rencontre du Vietnam (Meeting Vietnam) and Vallet Scholarship Fund has set aside 20 billion VND (952,000 USD) to award to 2,250 outstanding Vietnamese students this year. High school students will receive scholarships worth 8 million VND (380 USD) each while students at universities and colleges and young researchers will get 13 million VND each. Since its establishment in 2011, the fund has awarded over 120 billion VND (5.7 million USD) to nearly 25,000 students. The fund was established by French Professor Odon Vallet, from France’s Sorbonne University, through the Meeting Vietnam organisation founded by the Vietnamese-French Professor Tran Thanh Van. Laos Red Cross officials train in Hanoi Twenty Lao officials are attending a Vietnam Red Cross (VRC) training course on natural disaster response and other humanitarian training. The training is part of a cooperation agreement between the two countries’ Red Cross (RC) societies signed last year. At the opening ceremony in Hanoi on August 19, VRC President Nguyen Hai Duong noted this is the first time such a course has been held to share Vietnam’s experience and its policies and guidelines on humanitarian activities. The training includes instruction on developing Red Cross societies, resource development, people-to-people diplomacy, health care, blood donation and coping with disasters. Fact-finding tours of Vinh Phuc, Thanh Hoa and Quang Ninh provinces are also planned as part of the training. Conference talks gender equality and life balance The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation jointly held a conference on August 19 in Hanoi, discussing the issue of gender equality in a balance between life and work. The event aimed to provide information on international commitments related to labourers, like family responsibility, as well as working time and leave allowance for female workers, to achieve a harmony of work and family responsibility. It also helped attract attention of policy-makers to the building of laws, including the Law on Labour Safety and Employment Law, while creating a chance for them to share experience in the field. Policy-makers and researchers at the event reviewed laws and policies pertaining to gender equality and balance between life and work, as well as the effects of these policies. Participants agreed that the Convention 165 of the International Labour Organisation clearly states the relations between work conditions, working and relaxing time and gender equality matters. They held that the balance between life and work must be ensured through the law and policies, and supported by good models. In Vietnam, a number of businesses have applied flexible approaches to ensure safety and health of their labourers, especially pregnant and nursing women, showing awareness improvement when it comes to the rights of labourers, they said. Germany helps Vietnam manage forest sustainably First two Vietnamese companies have received Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification for their substantial contributions to forest development under a Vietnam-Germany forestry programme. The awards recipients are Dakto Plantation Single Member Limited Liability Company (Daktoplanco) in the Central Highland province of Kon Tum and Truong Son Forest Management Enterprise in the central province of Quang Binh. The two companies received Forest Management (FM)/ Chain of Custody (CoC) certification of the FSC after engaging in the Vietnam-Germany forestry programme from 2005-2014. The overall programme has three components: sustainable forest management - processing, trade and marketing of forest products, and forestry policy. At a review meeting in Hanoi on August 19, Nguyen Ba Ngai, Deputy Head of the Vietnam Administration of Forestry (VNForest), said the programme has helped create framework conditions for the forestry sector through improving institutions, perfecting legislation, developing new financial resources, and coordinating international aid. The programme is a great success thanks to strong commitment and guidance from the Vietnam Administration of Forestry, provincial People’s Committees, local Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, and other stakeholders, Ngai said. He suggested that the sustainable forest management model of the programme be replicated across the country. The meeting was jointly held by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ). MARD and GIZ are scheduled to launch another programme on sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity and forest eco-systems in Vietnam in the fourth quarter of this year. Deputy PM inspects Nhat Tan Bridge project Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai on August 18 inspected the construction of Nhat Tan Bridge and the road connecting the bridge and Noi Bai International Airport, asking for all efforts to put the project into operation in late 2014. As one of seven bridges spanning the Red River in Hanoi, the 8.9km bridge with eight lanes will be a key traffic route for the capital as it will link Noi Bai, a major port of entry, and downtown Hanoi. The construction of a 12km long road connecting Nhat Tan and Noi Bai is keeping with schedule. Once completed, the new route will shorten the time to travel from Hanoi to Noi Bai’s new Terminal 2 by half. The bridge is expected to open for technical trial run in October. Meanwhile, 86 percent of the building of Terminal T2, which is designed to serve 10 million passengers a year, has been completed. The terminal will also be put on the test two months later.- Wild animal imports under scrutiny to prevent Ebola outbreak The Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has requested Vietnamese forest rangers’ agencies undertake drastic measures to prevent wild animals from spreading infectious diseases including Ebola.   CITES Vietnam Director under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) Do Quang Tung said that the body asked provincial forestry rangers’ departments to send officials to supervise the import and export of wild animals in localities. All instances of illegal import of wild animals should be punished in accordance with current regulations. CITES Vietnam also requested farms which raise wild animals to regularly disinfect breeding facilities and supervise epidemics, if any. They should pay particular attention to fumigating areas which have wild animals imported from Africa. Localities were required to actively co-ordinate with veterinary agencies and local medical centres to supervise any epidemics at these farms and immediately cull dead wild animals. Moreover, localities were urged to instruct farmers to isolate sick animals which show symptoms of infection and timely inform relevant agencies. CITES Vietnam also recommended that breeding farms strengthen control and punish illegal transport, trafficking and slaughter of wild animals, and introduce safe measures for those who contact wild animals and related products. Ministry officials inspect local health care networks Officials of the Ministry of Health on August 19 paid working visits to the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai and Ho Chi Minh City to look at the operation of local health care networks. In Gia Lai, Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien spoke highly of efforts by local health sector in improving the quality of medical check-up and treatment. She urged the sector to soon draw up a human resources development plan which focuses on training specialists, in order to solve the current shortage of doctors. She suggested the building of satellite hospitals to take advantage of investment and technology transfer from central-level hospitals. The minister also asked Gia Lai to work harder to further cut down mother and infant mortality rates by extending the vaccination campaign to remote areas. Meanwhile, in Ho Chi Minh City , Cao Hung Thai, deputy head of the ministry’s Health Examination and Treatment Management Department, checked the improvement of health care services at the Trung Vuong Hospital and the Hospital of District 2. He found that the time patients have to wait for their check-up has been shortened significantly thanks to increasing staff and information technology application. Surveys of medical establishments across Vietnam show that health examination process has seen a reduction from 10-17 steps to 4-6 while patients now have to wait for only about 40 minutes on average to get a check-up. Workshop helps raise ASEAN climate negotiators’ capacity Strengthening ASEAN negotiators’ capacity for engaging in international climate change talks is the main focus of a workshop currently underway in Hanoi under sponsorship of the UN Development Programme and the UK Foreign Commonwealth Office. Speaking at the opening ceremony on August 19, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha said that parties to the 19 th meeting of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Poland last year set a target of reaching a global agreement on the phenomenon by 2015. However, he pointed to several challenges in realising this goal, including the gaps in opinions of developed and developing countries, ineffective financing for climate change and disagreement in rates of cutting greenhouse emission. As Vietnam’s strategic partner, the UK has committed to supporting Vietnam’s efforts to adapt to climate change in order to ensure its socio-economic development, said head of Prosperity of the British Embassy Andrew Holt. The training workshop will help Vietnam and other ASEAN countries effectively engage in international negotiations on climate change and secure the achievement of the new global climate agreement by 2015, he added. The workshop is expected to help senior negotiators understand more deeply about important issues subject to negotiation before the world can achieve the joint agreement. During the three-day event, experienced lecturers will share their knowledge on how to improve negotiating skills. Participants will also be updated on climate change policy progression within the framework of the UNFCCC. Vietnamese student excels in Singapore Le Nguyen Vuong Linh has won a treasure trove of 12 gold and silver medals at the Singapore National Olympiad in the five subjects of Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Astronomy. Linh also amassed an astonishing 44/45 points in the International Baccalaureate (IB), 2,330/2,400 points in the US’s Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT1), and 2,400/2,400 in the SAT2. Among his many achievements, Linh has received an Outstanding Students Award in 2013 from the Singaporean Defence Minister and a full scholarship worth US$248,000 for 4 years (2014-2018) to attend Colgate University in New York. Born in Hanoi, Linh studied at Nguyen Dinh Chieu primary school for the blind. He also reached 25.25/30 points in grade-six exam at Hanoi – Amsterdam secondary school for gifted students. In 2006, he took part in a Gameshow “Vietnamese prodigy” and was selected as one of the five outstanding students who attended a free special maths course with well-known teacher Tran Phuong. In 2009, Linh was gifted A*STAR scholarship at Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) in Singapore. During his four-year course, he pocketed about 50 medals and certificates of merit. He also actively joined extracurricular activities and was a member of Maths, Science, and Astronomy club’s leader board. After graduating from university, Linh wants to become a professional chemist to combat incurable diseases in the world. Mass mobilisation for Vietnamese residents in Europe The Communist Party of Vietnam pays special attention to mass mobilisation work for Vietnamese people living aboard, considering this an important task to pool their resources for national development. Ha Thi Khiet, Secretary of the Party Central Committee and head of the Commission for Mass Mobilisation, made the statement at a workshop in Prague on August 18. Khiet said more than 4.5 million Vietnamese nationals are currently residing, studying and working in 109 countries and territories across the globe. Of the total, nearly 800,000 are living in 43 European countries. Over the past years, Vietnamese expatriates in Europe have made an important contribution to Vietnam’s industrialisation and modernisation process, she told representatives of Vietnamese organisations in 14 European countries. Many successful entrepreneurs have invested back in Vietnam, with their total capital accounting for more than half the combined investment that Vietnamese people worldwide pumped into the country, she said. It was reported at the workshop that Vietnamese organisations based in Europe have gathered Vietnamese people to live in harmony with local communities, providing them with necessary assistance, and promoting Vietnamese culture to international friends. However, several reactionary and hostile forces in Europe make use of the organisations’ operations to sabotage Vietnamese revolution. The Communist Party of Vietnam considers Vietnamese nationals residing abroad an indispensible part of the Vietnamese nation. To this end, the Party and State has introduced policies and measures to help Vietnamese expatriates abroad fully develop capabilities, integrate deeper into local communities, and return back to Vietnam for investment and business activities. At the event, representatives of organisations in 14 European nations made recommendations on mass mobilisation to the Party to make it more efficient.   Pagoda probe reveals multiple problems Bo De Pagoda, which made headlines following the arrests of two female residents for alleged child trafficking, failed to provide decent living conditions to residents. These included children as well as the disabled and elderly, Nguyen Duy Ngoc, deputy director of the Ha Noi Police, said yesterday. However, there was no proof that chief monk Thich Dam Lan was involved in the child trafficking case, he added. A police investigation revealed that the pagoda never got permission from authorities to host children and disadvantaged groups. It was lacking in hygiene and facilities and caretakers were not adequately prepared to take care of children. None of the children under six went to school as is required by law, while 80 were never granted birth certificates. The pagoda started hosting children because social protection centres lacked the facilities to do so, said Phan Dang Long, deputy head of the Education Section of Ha Noi's Party Committee. In response to rumours about 11 children that reportedly disappeared, Long said that authorities had the addresses of each child. Seven had been returned to their families, two had been adopted by families in Nam Dinh and Dong Nai and one was still staying at the pagoda. The investigation team continued to search for one child, aged four, who had left the pagoda. In early August, Nguyen Thi Thanh Trang, a caretaker at Bo De Pagoda, was arrested by the police for allegedly selling a baby who was raised at the pagoda. Pham Thi Minh Nguyet, who bought the baby, was also arrested. Both are now facing charges of child trafficking. About 135 people are still living in the pagoda, including children as well as elderly and disadvantaged people, Vnexpress e-newspaper reported. Doctors urge mothers to breast-feed infants Women who have Caesarean sections are often reluctant to breast-feed their children as they are taking antibiotics for a week or so after delivery. But Le Thi Trang of HCM City, whose premature child weighed only 1.1 kilos, thought differently. "Every day, I could only see my child through a window. I wanted to carry my child in my arms. In my mind, it's best to give nothing but breast milk, because the milk can improve her resistance to disease," she said. Her baby had to stay in Gia Dinh People Hospital's neonatal intensive care unit for 40 days. "My child was exclusively breastfed only for one hour after birth, as Trang was taking antibiotics to prevent infections after having a Caesarean section. Although the baby was not breast-fed for one week, Trang, following her doctor's advice, manually pumped her breast every three hours to provide milk after she stopped taking the antibiotics. "My daughter's health became better day by day," she said, adding that firmly believes in the health benefits of breast milk. Trang's daughter weighed an additional 40 grammes after she was discharged from the hospital. "Now, my child is six months old, and weighs 5.5 kilos," she said. She continues to breast-feed her daughter but also gives her solid food. Like Trang, Nguyen Thi Thanh Thao of Go Vap District also breastfed her son exclusively for six months. "I was told that I should feed my son formula milk when he cries. My mother and mother-in-law thought he wasn't full because my breast milk supply was not enough," she said. However, Thao read many materials on breast-feeding and decided that she was doing the right thing. She convinced her relatives that breastfeeding was preferable to formula milk. "Support from the mother's relatives is very vital," she said. Resuming work after maternity leave could also present a problem, she noted. "Every morning, I pump milk and store it in the fridge to feed my child at noon. In the afternoon, I go home and breast-feed him," she said. According to a report in Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper last year, the rate of mothers using Caesarean sections in Ha Noi's obstetrics hospitals was 40-50 per cent, and in HCM City, 40 per cent. Do Thi Ngoc Diep, head of the HCM City Nutrition Centre, said that breast milk contained necessary nutrients, vitamins and minerals for infants' growth. Breastfed infants have fewer risks of contracting infectious diseases such as pneumonia, botulism, bronchitis, influenza and ear infections. The milk that mothers produce after delivery is highly nutritious and can prevent such infections from occurring. "That is the reason why mothers are encouraged to breastfeed their newborn babies within 30 minutes or one hour after they are born," Diep added. Reducing the risks of infectious diseases would also decrease the number of infant deaths, she said. Exclusively breast-feeding (with no formula milk) would help save 6 million children under 5 years old each year worldwide, she said. "No milk product is better than breast milk," she said. "Moreover, it prevents the risk of obesity, diabetes and cancer." Mother's milk straight from the breast was always sterile, never contaminated by polluted water or dirty bottles, which often led to diarrhea, she said. A study in Viet Nam on suboptimal breastfeeding practices associated with infant illness found that early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding protected against diarrhea and acute respiratory infections. The study, of 6,068 mothers and their children in 11 provinces in 2011, was conducted by Ha Noi's International Food Policy Research Institute and other organisations. It was published in the International Breastfeeding Journal in early August. The study showed that the odds of getting diarrhea were still significantly lower among infants who were breastfed in the first hour after birth compared to those who were not. In addition, the odds were higher among infants who were predominantly or partially breastfed compared to those who were exclusively breastfed. Psychologist Pham Ngoc Thanh, a former doctor at the City Paediatrics Hospital No.1, said that breastfeeding helped mothers and babies establish a closer relationship. This close interaction also assisted the physical, emotional and cognitive development of babies, and how the child relates to other people in the future, she added. Source: VNN/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/ND