Social News 10/9 Music festival marks 45 years of Vietnam-Japan diplomatic ties   A performance at the music festival (Source: vtvgo.vn) A music festival celebrating the 45th founding anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Japan took place in Hanoi on September 9 night. The festival was co-organised by Vietnam Television (VTV), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Speaking at the event, Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung and Vietnam-Japan and Japan-Vietnam Special Ambassador Ryotaro Sugi talked about the bilateral friendship and cultural exchange that date back to nearly 1,300 years ago.  Cultural similarities and links between the two nations throughout history have laid a firm foundation for the current extensive strategic partnership, they said. A series of myriad activities, including the music festival, have been held in Vietnam and Japan to mark 45 years of diplomatic relations, thus boosting mutual trust and understanding between the two nations. VTV General Director Tran Binh Minh said the idea of organising the music festival began a year ago in preparation for the celebration. “Through music, we honour the cultural beauty of the two nations. They share similarities but each has its own identity,” he said. The highlight of the festival is the song Gap Toi Hoa No (Flowers Blooming When I Meet You) exclusively written for the event. Popular songs from the two countries will also be performed, including Doraemon no Uta and songs written by Vietnamese musician Trinh Cong Son. The cmusic festival gathered Vietnamese and Japanese leading artists, including My Linh, Dong Nhi, Trong Hieu, The Wings band, Maius Philharmonic, and Sine dance group of Vietnam; and Pikotaro, Godai Natsuko, w-inds. band, Exile Atsushi and especially Ambassador Sugi from Japan. The stage was designed with special effects highlighting the traditional culture of the two countries. Grassroots-level healthcare network needs better performance Medical workers treat residents in Hai Chanh commune in the central province of Quang Tri.  The quality of grassroots-level healthcare facilities nationwide has yet to meet expectation and patients’ demand, said Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien. It is not necessary for most patients to go to central hospitals when their illnesses can be treated at lower-level health facilities, she said at a meeting last weekend on improving ward-level clinics. “Up to 35.4 percent of patients who go to central-level hospitals can be treated at provincial and district level hospitals. As many as 41.5 percent who go to provincial hospitals can be treated at district-level health facilities and 11 percent can be treated at ward clinics,” she said. Grassroots-level healthcare facilities have not fulfilled their tasks of taking care of people’s health. Local health facilities are able to conduct an average of only 68.3 percent of medical techniques among 76 services. Facilities of the lowest quality can perform less than 20 percent of the services. There are a limited number of medicines covered by health insurance at the grassroots level. Some types of medicines are not even available, she said. Doctors at ward clinics are not allowed to prescribe medicine for high blood pressure and diabetes. Only district and provincial level hospitals can do so. A number of clinics do not have doctors. For these reasons, patients do not choose grassroots healthcare services, she said. Twenty-six clinics in wards and towns of eight cities and provinces have been selected to implement a pilot programme by the health ministry on improving the quality of grassroots-level healthcare. However, most of the clinics need to upgrade their infrastructure and medical equipment to effectively implement the programme. Tien said that among those selected clinics for the trial period, only healthcare facilities in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and northern Yen Bai province have enough doctors. Other localities suffer a shortage of doctors and traditional physicians. The health minister said that the key healthcare facilities in the programme will be equipped with beds, drug cabinets, X-ray machines, ultrasound and testing machines if necessary. To address the shortage of doctors, staff will be rotated to work at each clinic for two to three days a week. Nurses and physicians will be moved to balance the numbers while administrators at the local clinics will be professionally trained, she said. In the 2018-20 period, the health minister will send professional healthcare workers from central hospitals and grassroots-level healthcare facilities in Hanoi and HCM City to assist ward and town clinics in disadvantaged areas including Lao Cai province’s Bat Xat district, Yen Bai province’s Tran Yen district, Ha Tinh province’s Huong Son district and clinics in the capital city’s suburban areas like Ba Vi, Dan Phuong, Ha Dong, Nam Tu Liem districts. Cooperation agreement signed on sustainable poverty reduction   Representatives of poor and near-poor households and families facing difficulties received new motorbikes to help escape from poverty.  The Việt Nam Fatherland Front Committee in HCM City and five political-social organisations and associations have signed a cooperation agreement on a sustainable poverty reduction programme. The city’s Labour Union, Farmers Association, Women’s Union, War Veteran Association and Hồ Chí Minh Communist Youth Union all signed the agreement. Speaking at the signing ceremony on September 8, vice chairwoman of the city’s Việt Nam Fatherland Front Committee, Triệu Lệ Khánh, said the two sides would implement a coordinated plan and disseminate information about the State’s policies and guidelines on its sustainable poverty reduction programme in the 2016-20 period to departments, agencies and sectors at all levels. The aim is to find more resources to help poor households, near-poor households and households facing difficulties. Scholarships and learning tools for children, health insurance cards, vocational training, and monthly allowances for households in special difficulties will be provided, as well as new houses for disadvantegeous families. The use and management of State and social capital will be more closely supervised and evaluated at all levels. At the ceremony, a total of 100 poor households, near-poor households, and policy beneficiary families in HCM City were given equipment and tools to help them increase their incomes. Among the items were industrial sewing machines, overlock sewing machines, motorbikes, electric bicycles, motorbike repair kits, clock repair tool kits, manicure kits, and vending carts for selling lottery tickets, food and drinks. Lượng Thị Oanh, 36, who lives in Bình Chánh District, said she must stay home and take care of her children aged 8 and 2, while her disabled husband tries to sell lottery tickets to earn income for the family. “I was given a lock machine that will help me work at home and earn more money,” she said.  Immediate reporting system to inspect food violations in Hà Nội   Clean vegetables are sold at a supermarket in Hà Nội. An immediate food violation reporting system will be launched in Hà Nội by 2020 to ensure food safety, according to the municipal People’s Committee. The inter-sector system allows health, industry-trade, agriculture-rural development sectors and authorities at district, ward and town levels to receive food-related reports and issue warnings. The first level warning station is located at the Food Safety and Hygiene Division under the city’s Health Department. The second level warning station is located at district level’s clinics, with the third at ward’s clinics. The second and third levels are in charge of receiving food problem reports, inspecting them and reporting them to higher levels. According to the city’s Market Surveillance Division, the reports can be received through phones, text messages and emails. Officials must report incidents to the system within two hours of the incidents being discovered. Urgent food safety incidents must be inspected and addressed within 24 hours. The sectors will mobilise forces to deal with incidents and respond to food poisoning. Punishments for violations will be publicised widely. In the first half of this year, some 1,600 food business facilities were subjected to fines for food safety violations worth a total of more than VNĐ4.4 billion (US$191,300). In late August, the city’s centre of investment, commerce and tourism promotion and the Japan International Co-operation Agency launched nongsanantoanhanoi.gov.vn to introduce safe farm produce addresses to the city’s residents. The city has 65 safe food chains. 128 supermarkets, 454 markets and 600 convenience stores selling safe farm produce.  Thăng Long Bridge repair must ensure durability: transport minister   The uneven road surface on Thăng Long Bridge. — Photo news.zing.vn Repairs on Thăng Long Bridge must be durable for at least ten years and only measures that meet this requirement will be considered. Pilot proposals will be rejected, said transport minister Nguyễn Văn Thể. The 33-year-old bridge was repaired for the first time in 2009 with total expenditure of up to VNĐ100 billion (US$4.3 million). However, the new layer of concrete soon degraded. Despite several other repairs, a number of cracks and pot holes have appeared on the surface of the bridge. According to the latest inspection, over 8,700 sq.m of road surface are cracked, while pot holes distort traffic markings painted on the road surface and endanger drivers. Drivers said that the repaired areas easily sink, erode or crack just after torrential rain. The increased vehicle load is one reason behind the degradation of the bridge. Dr Tô Giang Lam from the University of Transport said that maintenance of Thăng Long Bridge will be difficult without undertaking general repair first. Without proper technical solutions, the quality and durability of the bridge will not be ensured, he said. To repair the bridge, the transport minister asked consultation agencies to select accountable and experienced contractors. Nguyễn Văn Huyện, head of the Directorate for Roads of Viet Nam said that Russian experts have been invited to provide consultations on bridge surface repair and will come to Việt Nam from September 17 to 21. Transport minister Thể ordered the establishment of a working group led by a transport deputy minister to meet with the Russian experts.   Thăng Long Bridge is a key transport project connecting the capital city centre with suburban areas and northern localities. Before the Nhật Tân Bridge opened to traffic, Thăng Long Bridge crossing the Hồng (Red) River was the only route to travel from Nội Bài International Airport to the city centre. It was opened to traffic in 1985 as a symbol of Việt Nam-Russia friendship.  Central province successfully keeps environment clean   Green trees are planted along the Hương (Perfume) River in the central province of Thừa Thiên-Huế. The city has developed a number of activities to keep the environment clean.  A campaign to build clear, clean and green areas without rampant littering is being conducted by organisations, enterprises, hotels, restaurants and households in the central province of Thừa Thiên-Huế. Every Friday afternoon, organisations cut grass, clean up and look after gardens and ornamental trees around their offices. The provincial Department of Industry and Trade works with the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to call on supermarkets, malls and markets to use environmentally friendly bags. Every weekend, households and residential quarters tidy up and clear sewage from their living areas and public places. The work is guided by local people’s committees and youth unions. The provincial Department of Tourism instructs tourism ships and transport ships to collect rubbish around their anchoring places and to educate tourists not to litter. Hotels and restaurants along the Hương (Perfume) River also collect rubbish weekly. The province has many models of organisations working to clean the environment, like Quảng Điền District Women’s Association’s campaign to collect rubbish and keep roads clean. Up to now, more than 4,500 households in the district separate rubbish at the source. Members of the association tidy up the environment every month. The association also conducts the campaign ‘five no and three clean’. Five No means no poverty, no violence, no social evils, no law violations and no children quitting school. Three clean means clean house, clean kitchen and clean alley. The Thừa Thiên-Huế Department of Science and Technology conducts projects to treat rural rubbish in several districts. Local residents are more aware of protecting the environment and littering has been reduced sharply. Many markets in rural areas in the province do not stink of rubbish anymore. Hương Chữ Ward in Hương Trà Town classifies rubbish and makes it into fertiliser. Every five cubic metres of rubbish can make about one tonne of fertiliser. New “portable” health insurance policy declared a success in provincial district   A consultant speaks about the benefits and importance of health insurance.  Cao Lãnh District is the first locality in Đồng Tháp Province to pilot a new "portable" health insurance policy, which has had positive results after five months of implementation. By the end of August, nearly 81 per cent of the district’s total population was covered by health insurance. The social insurance agency in the district set up portable communication sites for consultation and issuing of health insurance cards for people living in hamlets and villages. Most consultation sites received a positive response from locals, with a large number of people coming to hear social insurance’s officials speak about the significant benefits of health insurance, as well as procedures and payment methods by insurance services. Dương Kim Loan, a resident in District’s Nhị Mỹ Commune, said she did not know much about health insurance payments, or treatment and referral services, but now has a better understanding of health insurance policy and benefits. Under the programme, problems are resolved and new cards are issued more quickly than before. Lê Trọng Nhân from Gáo Giồng Commune, for example, said he had bought a health insurance card with the wrong name in July. Instead of taking nearly a month to correct the problem at health insurance agencies, he only needed to bring the card to the communication sites where the problem was resolved in a short time. “I was very satisfied with this approach,” he said. As a result, the social insurance agency in the district has renewed about 100 health insurance cards and issued more than 30 new cards. Đoàn Văn Đông, director of social insurance in Cao Lãnh District, said that more communication activities would take place in Gáo Giồng, Nhị Mỹ and Phong Mỹ communes, which have a low rate of insurance coverage. By the end of June, nearly 1.3 million people in the province had received health insurance cards, an increase of more than 91,000 participants compared to the same period last year. Nguyễn Thị Kim Thu, deputy director of the province’s social insurance agency, said rural residents have less access to health insurance agents at communes’ people’s committees and post offices. She said the portable communication model in the district would be expanded to other districts in the province. Delta takes steps to protect children in flooded areas   Flood inundates rice fields in Kiên Giang Province. Authorities in the Mekong Delta are setting up safe sites for children in flooded areas and ensuring the safety of students going to school. The annual flooding in the delta, caused by the rising level of the Mekong River, is threatening the safety of children in flooded areas. In An Giang Province’s An Phú District, which has suffered from severe flooding as compared to most other districts, more than 1,000 primary school students are taken to school and back to their homes by family members and volunteers. They live in deeply flooded communes like Phú Hội, Nhơn Hội, Vĩnh Hội Đông and Vĩnh Hậu. The district has set up five sites that provide day care and free meals for more than 200 children aged between three and five in deeply flooded communes of Phú Hội, Vĩnh Hội Đông and Khánh An. The district’s People’s Committee plans to set up a total of 35 sites to look after more than 1,000 children a day when their parents go to work. The district has helped children go to school during floods for more than 10 years. In Đồng Tháp Province, local authorities have been giving children swimming lessons to prevent drowning. For instance, more than 90 swimming classes for around 2,300 children in the province’s Hồng Ngự District. Hồng Ngự has seven sites that look after children during the flood season. Mai An Nhịn, deputy chairman of the Kiên Giang Province’s People’s Committee, has asked localities to carry out measures to prevent drowning and ensure safety of children going to school. Kiên Giang, which has set up special sites that look after children, has also asked parents to keep children at home when flood levels are high.   Flooding has caused damage to thousands of hectares of rice, vegetables and fruit in the delta’s low-lying areas. In Kiên Giang Province, floods have caused damage to 1,100ha of summer-autumn rice planted outside embankments, according to the province’s Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, Search and Rescue. About 1,130 households in Kiên Giang Province living along flood-prone canals and areas have moved to safe areas. The flood level is estimated to rise to four metres at Châu Đốc Station and 4.5 metres at Tân Châu Station by the middle of this month, according to Nguyễn Huỳnh Trung, head of the office of the natural disaster steering committee. In Kiên Giang’s Long Xuyên Quadrangle, floods are rising and may inundate 20,000ha of summer - autumn rice in Giang Thành, Kiên Lương and Hòn Đất districts and 11,500ha of autumn-winter rice in Tân Hiệp District. In Đồng Tháp Province, flood water has caused damage to more than 50ha of rice in Thanh Bình, Lấp Vò and Hồng Ngự districts and Cao Lãnh City, according to the province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Floods have also inundated dozens of hectares of fruit in the province, with farmers being forced to pump water out of orchards. Nguyễn Thanh Hùng, deputy chairman of the Đồng Tháp Province’s People’s Committee, said that fruit orchard owners would be asked to consolidate embankments to avoid damage to their fruit trees. Farmers should update information about flood waters regularly, he said.    In Đồng Tháp, flooding is predicted to affect more than 13,000ha of autumn-winter rice, mostly in Tam Nông and Tháp Mười districts and Hồng Ngự Town.  VNN