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Social
News Headlines 27/3
US launches
cooperation strategy for Vietnam
The US Consulate
General in
The strategy aims
to help strengthen the comprehensive partnership between
At a March 25
launch for the strategy, USAID Mission Director in Vietnam Joakim Parker gave
a presentation on the contents of the strategy to partners, non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) and representatives from the private sector and
provinces and cities in
Over the next five
years, USAID will provide Vietnam withUS$344 million to help implement
support programs pertaining to trade, enhancement of competitive edge,
the development of the private sector and the widespread participation of all
sectors in economic activities.
The strategy will
also help upgrade the healthcare system, provide services to prevent bird
flu, treat HIV/AIDS cases and cope with climate change towards green growth.
In addition, USAID
is also intent on finalizing the treatment of dioxin at
US Consul General
in Ho Chi Minh City Rena Bitter said that the most important thing is that
the strategy will help put us on the right track to pursuing sustainable
development for the environment, economy and the population.
She expressed her
hope that both governments will fulfill important targets in coping with these
challenges.
The
Police in
Central police
ordered authorities in districts and communes to promptly issue the new ID
cards. Local police will be issuing the new cards at schools, houses, and
hospitals.
The old ones will
be exchanged. Each new card will have a barcode storing personal information
for lifetime use.
The aim of this is
to cut administrative expenses and create ease for filling out paperwork.
Bank chiefs
arrested for lending violations
Police yesterday
prosecuted and arrested six cadres and leaders of the Viet Nam Development
Bank (VDB)'s at the Minh Hai branch for violation of lending laws, with
serious consequences.
The group included
three detainees - Trinh Minh Tuan, former director of the branch, Huynh Quang
Xuan, Head of Credit Department, and Tran Thi Oanh, cadre of the Credit
Department.
Three others were
released on bail, including Vu Van Quang, former deputy director of the
branch, Phan Thanh Toan and Phan Thanh Hai, both Deputy Heads of Credit
Department.
The police also
raided the houses of the group, collecting evidence related to the case.
Since 1999, VDB has
lent trillions of dong to businesses that process and exporting seafood, with
low-interest rates. But the banks have not been able to recover their debts
because they were taken out by businesses who gave false reasons for
requiring the loans, or that were on the verge of bankruptcy, according to
the investigation.
Businesses who have
failed to repay debts included Ngoc Sinh Seafood (who owe more than VND290
billion (US$13.76 million)); Nhat Duc Seafood, who owe a total of VND176
billion ($8.35 million); and Viet Nam Fish One, who owe VND118 billion ($5.6
million).
Two die
after truck plunges into gorge
Two people were
killed and two others injured when the truck they were travelling in lost
control and plunged into a ravine yesterday in north-eastern
The injured were
taken to hospital. The accident was the tenth since the stretch of road came
into operation last October. The case is under investigation.
The first stage of
efforts to treat dioxin contaminated soil with In-Pile Thermal Desorption
(IPTD or thermal remediation) at the Da Nang Airport Project will kick off
next month.
Head of the
Military Science Office of Air Force-Air Defence Command, Colonel Do Duy Kien
made the announcement yesterday at a community outreach session on
environmental remediation efforts at the site.
"Contractors
have filled up 45,000 cubic metres of dioxin-contaminated soil in the
containment and all equipment is ready for the treatment of contaminated soil
and sediment with thermal remediation," Kien said.
The session, which
was attended by more than 80 community representatives and the city's
authorities, aims to share information with community representatives about
progress on the Environmental Remediation of Dioxin Contamination at the
Airport.
"The Air
Force-Air Defence also completed clearing unexploded ordnances (UXOs) on an
area of 31.8ha as well as setting up a power sub-station with
12,800KVA," Kien added.
"As proposed
by USAID, the command will clear 5.7ha of the entire area of Sen Lake again
in April and May. The second phase of excavation of dioxin contaminated soil
at the airport will continue from 2014 and 2015," Kien said.
The contaminated
soil and sediment will be heated by 1,254 heating wells to a temperature of
335 degrees Celsius over four months, with approximately 95 per cent of the
dioxin estimated to be destroyed within the structure.
Vice chairman of
the city's People's Committee Nguyen Ngoc Tuan said the project would be the
first of six other dioxin "hot pots" in
USAID Viet Nam
Mission Director, Joakim Parker said:"The project remains on schedule
and on target to complete the clean up in 2016. This owes a great deal to the
excellent co-operation among USAID and our Vietnamese government partners,
especially
According to a
representative from the Viet Nam-Russia tropical centre, environmental
monitoring systems have been put in place to prevent the offsite migration of
contaminants including storm water run-off; water generated during
remediation as well as measurements of baseline dioxin.
The five-year
project draws on a total fund of US$84 million, of which VND35 billion ($1.6
million) is from the Vietnamese Government, aims to clean an estimated 73,000
cubic metres of contaminated soil at the airport.
The treated soil
will be later removed from the containment structure and tested for traces of
contaminants before being used as a filling material at the site.
The
VN duo
compete in int'l energy challenge
A Vietnamese duo
will compete against nine East Asian teams in a challenge for intelligent
urban energy management solutions in
The duo, who call
themselves the Team Energy Bank, was chosen after beating 51 teams in a
nation-wide "Go Green in the City 2014" contest organised by
Schneider Electric.
Winning teams from
the East Asia Zone Finals will go on to compete in the global round held in
Chan May
port welcomes
Cruise liner
Nautica from the
After docking,
visitors joined tours to discover Thua Thien Hue province, Hoi An ancient
city and My Son Sanctuary in Quang
This is the first
arrival of Nautica to Chan May port, and it is the seventh liner to the port
this year. The ship, 180 metres in length, is equipped with modern facilities
and is considered as a five-star hotel on the sea.
Chan May port is
chosen as a stop for many international cruise liners on their trans-Viet
journey to discover Vietnam’s charming cities such as Hue, Ha Long and Da
Nang.
Foreign
tourists down 15.7 percent in March
The number of
foreign arrivals to
The figure raised
the total number of international visitors to the country in the first
quarter of this year to over 2.3 million, a year-on-year rise of 29.3
percent, according to the General Statistic Office (GSO).
The Ministry of
Culture, Sports and Tourism has devised a plan for 2014, based on the
strategy and the master plan on developing tourism to 2020, with a vision to
2030 and the national action plan on tourism for the 2013-2020 period.
It will focus on
improving tourism products and service quality, addressing the sector’s
shortcomings and organising successfully the National Tourism Year 2014 in
the Central Highland
In 2013,
Most of
international markets saw increases:
New Rural
Development Plan implemented in three regions
Authorities in the
southeast, south-central and highlands regions are hard at work implementing
the New Rural Development Plan.
Management hosted a
meeting on March 24 in Da Lat Town to create a three-year plan. Deputy Prime
Minister Vu Van Ninh, agency representatives and governments of 19 cities and
provinces in the three regions participated in the meeting.
The New Rural
Development Plan aims to upgrade agricultural techniques, improve farmers’
living standards, and develop rural infrastructure. Authorities in these
regions have invested heavily on basic infrastructure including irrigation,
traffic, clean water supply, school, market and cultural house construction.
The southeast
region has 27 communes growing rubber, cashew and pepper. The south-central
region has two communes building large boats and aquatic breeding farms. The
highlands have 13 communes with forestry, industrial crops, and cattle farms
as the main subsistence.
The federal
government and local administration will support residents financially to
purchase seeds and advanced agriculture techniques. They will work closely
with companies and farmers to ensure peek consumption.
Deputy Prime
Minister Ninh emphasized that the plan is an important mission. Local
governments should be trained when appealing for social contribution.
Blaze
destroys dried flower shop
A three-hour-long
blaze destroyed an 800-square-metre dried flower shop in the
The authorities
sent 100 firemen and 10 fire engines to put out the blaze. Initial reports
said that the damage was estimated to be about VND2 billion, or US$94,800.
Fortunately, no casualties were reported.
The cause of the
blaze is yet to be ascertained. The local police are investigating the case.
Smugglers
arrested in Bac Giang
Police in the
northern
The drugs were
found in a traveling-bag in the back seat of the car. The driver, who later
admitted that he had been infected with HIV for three years, could not show
any papers.
The police detained
the two suspects and seized the heroin for further investigation.
Lai Van Hung,
Director of the Vietnam Institute of Lexicography and Encyclopaedia under the
Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS), said on March 25 that the set will
comprise 35 volumes with 30,000 entries. Each volume will have 1,000 pages.
The compilation of
an encyclopaedia is new to
Vietnamese
scientists will study both domestic and international experience in order to
compile the set of books.
Rescue ends
bear bile farming in Binh Thuan
The Animals Asia
Foundation (AAF) and authorised agencies of the central
The owner
voluntarily handed over the bear, which had been caged for 14 years, to the
provincial Forest Protection Department.
With this rescue,
Binh Thuan has become the second province, after Thua Thien-Hue, to terminate
the practice.
AAF Vietnam
Director Dr. Tuan Bendixsen said the owner’s action shows the diminishing
market for bear bile.
The 150kg animal
will be sent to the Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre, which is home to 110 animals
at present, in the
Elephants
in Central Highland at risk of extinction
Elephants in the
Central Highland
According to Dak
Lak’s elephant conservation centre, the province currently has 53 elephants,
but one-fifth of them are now becoming old and weak.
They are
desperately in need of a healthy wildlife environment and better preservation
and care from the community.
Local authorities
and relevant agencies are intensifying urgent measures to protect elephants and
improve their natural surroundings.
The image of the
elephant is intrinsic to daily life of local residents in the Central
Highlands. Elephants and ethnic minority people on Serepok river live in
harmony together, creating a a unique and special feature of the region.
Visitors to the
area are interesting in riding elephants during their tour of Buon Don
tourist site in Dak Lak province.
Police eye
overloaded trucks
The Viet Nam Road Administration
under the Ministry of Transport has instructed authorities to clamp down on
overloaded trucks using mobile weighbridges from next Tuesday.
Transport
departments will be in charge of weighing heavy vehicles along national
highways. Violators will be fined and have their driving licences revoked and
their cargos confiscated.
Last January, the
administration started to install 53 mobile weighbridges along highway routes
to stop overloaded trucks, which have been blamed for traffic accidents and damage
to roads. Each weighbridge costs around VND2.2 billion (US$103,400).
A trial involving
10 weighbridges held previously proved successful over a three month period.
More than 3,300
overloaded trucks were pulled over and 7,270 tonnes of excessive cargo was
removed, while over 750 drivers had their driving licences revoked and the
fines collected amounted to VND1.4 billion ($65,800).
Nguyen Thanh Binh,
a driver for a private transport company in Ha Noi, said he agreed to have
his truck weighed providing all heavy trucks were subject to inspection.
"It will take
time, but it will be fair," he said. "Overloaded trucks usually
carry building materials and wood and they operate at night, so the police
should focus more on those vehicles."
Quang Ninh
promotes new rural area building model
In response to the
national target programme on building new-style rural areas launched three
years ago, the northeastern
The efforts have
raised local incomes and promote the trademarks of local agricultural
products, reported Radio The Voice of Vietnam (VOV).
Farmers of Cong Hoa
ward in Quang Yen town are busily harvesting vegetables, which will be bought
at higher prices and processed by the local processing companies. Since the
beginning of the harvest season, they have been able to collect three tonnes
of vegetables a day thanks to commitments from both sides in a new
production-processing model.
Farmers pledge to
follow strict rules to ensure product quality, and local companies pledge to
buy their vegetables at prices five percent higher than the market. They no
longer suffer from their small-scale production with its low productivity and
now plan to expand their vegetable fields.
"Our family
economy has improved significantly thanks to this new model. We just have to
harvest vegetables and wait for the companies to come and buy them at good
prices," Pham Thi Phuong Thao, local farmer, told VOV.
Since 2012, the
local authorities in Cong Hoa ward have applied appropriate management
mechanisms to attract participation of businesses in the local production as part
of new rural development.
In addition to
buying farmers’ agricultural products at higher prices, local businesses have
also invested nearly 900,000 USD in building irrigation systems, upgrading
processing companies and storage areas, and promoting trademarks for local
products.
Thanks to this new
model, every hectare of land used for growing vegetables now can earn as much
as 7,500 USD in revenue, double the previous rate.
Pham Van Son,
chairman of the Cong Hoa ward People’s Committee, said that they are planning
to build net houses for hot-house plants of higher retail value. He said a
prerequisite condition to make this model a success is that farmers have to
strictly honor their commitments in terms of quality and sanitation.
Quang Ninh province
is prepared to promote the trademarks of 23 local agricultural products. The
local authorities have finished setting up zones for centralised production
activities and established 15 associations and collectives tasked with
managing production activities, applying the latest production technologies,
controlling product quality, and finding reliable outlets for the products.
Dinh Sy Nguyen,
head of the Intellectual Property Division of the Quang Ninh provincial
Department of Science and Technology, said "Among the 19 criteria set
for the national programme on new rural development, the three economic
criteria are the most important, yet most difficult to achieve."
Building strong
trademarks for local products will address this problem. To achieve this
goal, it’s necessary to set up specific zones for centralised production
while ensuring every required step to improve product quality. More
importantly, associations and companies play a crucial role in providing
stable outlets for the farmers, he added.
A number of
agricultural products of Quang Ninh province, including Dong Trieu
custard-apples, Yen Tu yellow apricot flowers, and Quang Yen clams, are
gaining a foothold in the market and lifting the competitiveness of the
province’s agricultural products.-
Wheelchairs come to the disabled in Quang Binh
The wheelchairs,
worth VND120 million (US$5,640) in total, were handed over to beneficiaries
in the poor districts of Quang Ninh, Quang Trach and Bo Trach on March 25.
The same day,
representatives from the organisation and the provincial sponsoring
association for the disabled and orphans visited handicapped people in Bo
Trach district.
Since 2011, the
Japanese organisation has provided nearly 80 wheelchairs for the disabled in
Quang Binh province, which is home to 45,000 people with disabilities.
Between 2006 and
2013, the province provided job consultancy to 817 people with disabilities
and vocational training for 550 others.
It is striving to
ensure access to healthcare services for 90% of the targeted group, and
health check-ups for 85 percent of under-6-year-old children to early detect
congenital conditions and growth disorders.
In June 2010,
Engineering
education conference opens in HCM City
The second Vietnam
Engineering Education Conference (VEEC) opened in
The two-day
conference, organised by the Higher Engineering Education Alliance Programme
(HEEAP) of the
Deputy Minister of
Education and Training Bui Van Ga said the annual event will offer an
opportunity for participants to share experiences and utilise partnerships to
bring a sustainable change to
Within the
programme, participants are set to present advanced education methods such as
blended and flipped classrooms and massive open online courses.
Partner groups in
industry and education will also discuss ways to inspire engineers and build
a partnership in education and scientific research between the State and the
private sector.
HEEAP was founded
in 2010 by the US Agency for International Development, the Intel group, and
the
In
Project fosters
public involvement in socio-economic development
The “Pro-poor
Participatory Development Project” funded by Plan International has helped
strengthen the participation of the poor, ethnic people and women in
socio-economic development and poverty reduction.
The affirmation was
made on the first day of a two-day conference (March 25-26) to sum up the
project after three years of implementation in Xin Man district in the
northern mountainous province of Ha Giang and central Quang Tri province’s
Huong Hoa district.
The project helped
improve local people’s awareness of socio-economic development planning and
has made them more proactive in raising their opinions. It also improved the
community’s attitude towards the role of women in this process.
At the conference
in Ha Giang, participants are sharing their experience in implementing the
project and discussing measures to maintain its effectiveness.
The project,
implemented in 19 communes in the two districts from January 2011 to March
2014, was funded by the European Union with a total budget of EUR728,000
(US$1 million), EUR500,000 of which was from the EU and the remaining from
Plan International.
Viettel
helps
The Military
Telecom Corporation (Viettel) will help
A signing ceremony
to establish the cooperation between the two sides was held in
Accordingly,
Viettel will fund all expenses for implementing the project, which aims at
building the font system for mobile phones as well as establishing rules for
entering characters on devices using Android and iOS operating systems and
computers using Windows.
The company will
also provide consulting services and training courses, and transfer
technology to
According to Tran
The Cuong, a representative from Viettel, the project aims to facilitate Lao
people to use their native language on electronic devices. He said through
the project, Viettel hopes to contribute to preserving and developing
Deputy Minister of
Post and Telecommunications Thansamay Commasith thanked the group for its
practical support in the project, which marks the breakthrough of his
country’s telecom sector.
Once completed, the
project’s products will be used officially in
Workshop
discusses land use, climate change
A workshop was held
in the central
Participants elaborated
on their survey, data collection and studies in the basin in recent times.
They also stressed the reason for using climate models to reduce the impact
of climate change on socio-economic development and environmental protection.
Researchers
proposed strategies for sustainable land use and water resources management
in the basin. They also introduced several scenarios and trends in climate
change from now to 2020, and even 2050. Dr Lars Ribbe, director of the
project, said it aims to build strategies to manage land and water resources
in the area.
Launched in July
2010, the LUCCI project is funded by
More
suburban Hanoians to access clean water
More than 50,000
residents in
Approved by
It will be built in
2014-2015 with a total investment of over 82 billion VND (3.85 million USD)
sourced from the 2013-2015 National Rural Water Supply and Sanitation
National Target Programme.
The other facility
will be also built under this programme in Me Linh district’s Thanh Lam, Dai
Thanh and Tam Dong communes with 36,367 residents.
Its funding will
have 60 percent covered by the World Bank and 10 percent mobilised through
the community.-
Poor people
to receive support for TV digitalisation
More than 1.7
trillion VND (81 million USD), will be spent from the Vietnam Public utility
Telecommunication Service Fund to help poor households replace analogue
televisions with digital ones.
This is part of the
country's plan for television digitalisation in which analogue TVs would be
eased out in the five biggest cities by 2015, said Deputy Minister of
Information and Telecommunication and head of the plan steering committee Le
Nam Thang.
Thang said that
under the plan, they were conducting a survey on television usage by
households and making a list of beneficiaries who would get support.
The beneficiaries
include poor and near-poor households and families which get preferential
treatment for their contribution to the country's revolution, he said. The
disbursement would be in line with the steps being taken to spread digital TV
technology, he added.
The ministry also
recommended that people should buy Vietnamese set-top boxes with digital TVs
to save money and to receive television signals conveniently.
From May onwards,
all TV sets sold in
In the first phase,
the national plan on television digitalisation will be implemented in
In the second
phase, with the deadline of December 31, 2016, the plan will be carried out
in 26 provinces.
The third phase
will be implemented in 18 provinces by December 31, 2018. And in the fourth
one, digitalisation will be implemented in the remote provinces in the north
and the central region.
Digital
communication systems offer much more efficiency, better performance and much
greater flexibility than analogue technology.-
Agricultural
sector responds to Earth Hour
The campaign aims
to raise offices and individuals’ awareness of effectively using energy and
reducing environmental pollution.
The department’s
director Chu Phu My asked its staff and farmers to save energy and turn off
all unnecessary equipment for one hour from 20:30 to 21:30 on March 29.
Initiated by the
Worldwide Fund for Nature, Earth Hour was first held in
Quang Ninh
promotes new rural area building model
In response to the
national target programme on building new-style rural areas launched three
years ago, the northeastern
The efforts have
raised local incomes and promote the trademarks of local agricultural
products, reported Radio The Voice of Vietnam (VOV).
Farmers of Cong Hoa
ward in Quang Yen town are busily harvesting vegetables, which will be bought
at higher prices and processed by the local processing companies. Since the
beginning of the harvest season, they have been able to collect three tonnes
of vegetables a day thanks to commitments from both sides in a new production-processing
model.
Farmers pledge to
follow strict rules to ensure product quality, and local companies pledge to
buy their vegetables at prices five percent higher than the market. They no
longer suffer from their small-scale production with its low productivity and
now plan to expand their vegetable fields.
"Our family
economy has improved significantly thanks to this new model. We just have to
harvest vegetables and wait for the companies to come and buy them at good
prices," Pham Thi Phuong Thao, local farmer, told VOV.
Since 2012, the
local authorities in Cong Hoa ward have applied appropriate management
mechanisms to attract participation of businesses in the local production as
part of new rural development.
In addition to
buying farmers’ agricultural products at higher prices, local businesses have
also invested nearly 900,000 USD in building irrigation systems, upgrading
processing companies and storage areas, and promoting trademarks for local
products.
Thanks to this new
model, every hectare of land used for growing vegetables now can earn as much
as 7,500 USD in revenue, double the previous rate.
Pham Van Son,
chairman of the Cong Hoa ward People’s Committee, said that they are planning
to build net houses for hot-house plants of higher retail value. He said a
prerequisite condition to make this model a success is that farmers have to
strictly honor their commitments in terms of quality and sanitation.
Quang Ninh province
is prepared to promote the trademarks of 23 local agricultural products. The
local authorities have finished setting up zones for centralised production
activities and established 15 associations and collectives tasked with
managing production activities, applying the latest production technologies,
controlling product quality, and finding reliable outlets for the products.
Dinh Sy Nguyen,
head of the Intellectual Property Division of the Quang Ninh provincial
Department of Science and Technology, said "Among the 19 criteria set
for the national programme on new rural development, the three economic
criteria are the most important, yet most difficult to achieve."
Building strong
trademarks for local products will address this problem. To achieve this
goal, it’s necessary to set up specific zones for centralised production
while ensuring every required step to improve product quality. More
importantly, associations and companies play a crucial role in providing
stable outlets for the farmers, he added.
A number of
agricultural products of Quang Ninh province, including Dong Trieu
custard-apples, Yen Tu yellow apricot flowers, and Quang Yen clams, are
gaining a foothold in the market and lifting the competitiveness of the
province’s agricultural products.-
Climate
change capacity enhancement project approved
PM Nguyen Tan Dung
has approved a project to enhance the implementation capacity of the national
strategy on climate change funded by the United Nations Development Program.
The project aims at
enhancing the awareness, legal capacity and scientific and technological applications
of ministries, sectors and localities in implementing the national strategy
on climate change.
The project will be
implemented in four years with a total fund of over $4.7 million, of which,
$4.6 million is from the non-refundable ODA.
The Ministry of
Natural Resources and Environment will manage the project, in co-ordination
with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The project will be
piloted in Quang Ngai and Lai Chau provinces, which will be technically
supported in building and implementing plans and action plans related to
climate change as well as incorporating climate change in their social
economic development plans.
VFF seeks
greater national unity
The Vietnam
Fatherland Front (VFF), which oversees the nation’s socio-political
organisations, has implemented a strategy to reinforce national unity and
improve the supervision of social policies.
The initiatives
were launched in Hanoi on March 24.
Resultantly, the
VFF will spread patriotic campaigns across the nation and engage more with
public opinions and the aspirations of citizens.
The standing board
of the VFF Central Committee will be responsible for holding regular
conferences that ask for public feedback on State policies and guidelines.
The VFF and its
member bodies will closely supervise how State organisations operate and how
authorities at all levels deal with public complaints, so as to ensure their
legitimate rights and interests.
They will also work
as a think-tank for the Party, National Assembly and Government during the
course of lawmaking and enforcement, and policy enactment.
On top of this, the
VFF will outline its own social supervision scheme while collaborating with
the Government to oversee the enforcement of laws and policies regarding
socio-economic affairs, national defence, security and external relations.
Officials have also
discussed a plan to raise public awareness of VFF’s activities.-
Vietnam-Singapore
Red Cross ties hailed
The relationship
between the Vietnam Red Cross (VRC) and its Singaporean counterpart has
become closer in recent years.
This affirmation
was made by Doan Van Thai, Vice President and Secretary General of VRC
Central Committee, on the sidelines of the 11th South East Asia Red Cross Red
Crescent Leadership Meeting held in Singapore on March 24-26.
In an interview
granted to the Singapore-based Vietnam News Agency correspondent, Thai said
that the Singapore Red Cross was always among those first coming forward with
financial and human resource assistance when Vietnam was hit by natural
disasters.
He hailed the
Singaporean side for enthusiastically participating in Vietnam’s cow bank
project, presenting 220 cows to poor households in the country.
The three-day 11th
leadership meeting sought to increase the capacity of national Red Cross
organisations in humanitarian diplomacy.
Participants
discussed contents to be submitted to the Asia-Pacific Red Cross Red Crescent
Leadership Meeting slated for October in Beijing.-
Deputy PM
inspects bird flu prevention in border province
Deputy Prime
Minister Hoang Trung Hai on March 25 made an inspection tour of the
prevention of bird flu and cross-border poultry smuggling in the northern
border province of Lang Son.
While inspecting
quarantine units at border gates, Deputy PM Hai asked the locality to
intensify measures to wipe out the illegal cross-border poultry trade and
transport in order to effectively contain the spread of the disease in the
coming time.
During a working
session with local leaders, the official spoke highly of the locality’s
efforts in the field in the last year. He also stressed that they need to
fully tap economic strengths to further promote socio-economic development.
Lang Son province
has introduced a wide range of measures to thwart poultry smuggling in recent
times, while the poultry market management in the locality has also been
effective, Hai noted.
The provincial
health sector also enhanced supervision to quickly detect the cases, and
prepared facilities and equipment. Meanwhile the popularisation of
information on avian influenza risks to local people has been strengthened.
Hanoi calls
for public to join fight against TB
A meeting was held
in Hanoi on March 24 by the city’s Department of Health to promote public
involvement in the fight against tuberculosis (TB).
During the meeting
- which was organised in a hospital as part of the country’s response to
World TB Day - Director of the department Nguyen Khac Hien raised the
significance of TB prevention work, especially multidrug-resistant TB
treatment.
The ministry has
called for people from all strata to actively engage in the field and help
tuberculosis sufferers integrate into the community.
Latest statistics
from the municipal anti-TB programme show that Hanoi diagnoses over 5,000 TB
patients on an annual basis, half of whom suffer from pulmonary tuberculosis.
However, more than
90 percent of the TB patients have been treated successfully under the
programme as a result of the DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment, Short-Course)
strategy.
Notably since 2011,
the municipal health sector has provided treatment for nearly 200
multidrug-resistant TB patients with encouraging outcomes.
Since 2008, the US
Agency for International Development (USAID) has helped the capital carry out
the Public-Private Mix (PPM) project calling for the involvement of all
health care providers in the provision of TB care.
The city is
currently housing 38 hospitals and 335 surgeries as a result of the
six-year-old PPM project, examining 5,063 people with suspected tuberculosis
and detecting 535 cases of the disease.
According to the
World Health Organisation, Vietnam ranks 12th among the 22 countries most
burdened with TB, with some 130,000 new patients, 3,500 sufferers of
multidrug-resistant TB, and 18,000 deaths annually.
Under the national
TB prevention strategy until 2020 (with a vision to 2030) recently approved
by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Vietnam is looking to control TB levels at
below 20 patients for every 100,000 people by 2030 on the road to eventually
eliminating the disease.
Robots help
doctors conduct successful paediatric surgery
Robots successfully
assisted the doctors at the National Hospital of Paediatrics's Centre of
Paediatrics Endoscopic Surgery to conduct surgeries on ten patients since the
centre became operational four weeks ago.
Of the ten operated
patients, 17-month-old Hai Bang from the northern Thai Binh Province is
recovering well after doctors conducted robot-assisted surgery on her kidney
on Monday, said her mother, Nguyen Thi Thu Hien.
"After hearing
about the robotic surgery, I was very worried at first. However, I now quite
trust the new technology because my daughter is in a stable condition",
she noted.
In another case, a
child from the Ha Noi's Hoang Mai District, who suffered from large intestine
infection, had undergone a two-hour robotic operation and is now on the way
to recovery.
The patient's
mother, Huynh Thi Kim Dung remarked that the child was able to eat and drink
normally just a day after the operation, adding that her family now
completely trusted the new technology.
Pham Duy Hien, the
vice head of the hospital's Department of Surgery, claimed that robotic
surgery had helped to overcome the shortcomings of normal endoscopic surgery,
thanks to the robots' flexible joints.
"Patients
undergoing robotic operation recover faster than those having open
surgery", Hien stressed.
According to
Hospital Director Le Thanh Hai, one advantage of using the method is that the
surgeon does not have to be physically present, but can be anywhere in the
world, leading to the possibility of remote surgery.
Hai also added that
robotically assisted surgery was developed to overcome the limitations of
minimally invasive surgery and to enhance the capabilities of surgeons
performing open surgery.
"The centre's
foundation will help offer international standard medical services to
Vietnamese children", he emphasised, adding that the cost of robotic
surgery in foreign countries is estimated to be US$30,000, but in Viet Nam,
it costs only from VND50-70 million (US$2,000-3,500).
Robotic surgery,
computer-assisted surgery, and robotically-assisted surgery are all terms
deployed for technological developments that use robotic systems to assist
surgical procedures.
Viet Nam is the
first country in Southeast Asia and the second in Asia to apply this advanced
technology in surgery.
HCM City
spends big on traffic congestion control
The government of
HCMC has since 2011 spent as much as VND44 trillion (US$2.08 billion) on a
major program to address chronic traffic congestion, with 94% of the sum for
the city’s breakthrough programs.
The big spending
was shared by HCMC chairman Le Hoang Quan at a conference held on March 24 to
review three years of implementing the breakthrough programs related to human
resource development, economic restructuring, streamlined administrative
procedures, and controls on flooding, environmental pollution and traffic
congestion.
In the next two
years, Quan said, HCMC would reserve more land for roads to facilitate
traffic in this southern economic hub of the country. He said that in the
2014-2015 period, about 62 more kilometers of road would be built.
Quan said public
transportation only met 10.8% of commuter demand last year though the city
previously targeted 15% for next year. That was why the city had to scale
down the target to 11.1% for 2015, he explained.
HCM City
bus service quality remains poor
HCMC has yet to
find suitable solutions to improve commuter bus service quality while the
public is increasingly concerned about the rising number of bus accidents.
A news conference
called by the HCMC Department of Transport heated up last Friday with many
complaining about the quality of commuter bus service. They raised tough
questions about the recent deadly bus accidents and about how to cope with
this problem.
Duong Hong Thanh,
deputy director of the HCMC Department of Transport, said the city saw 10 bus
accidents between January 1 and March 10, killing two persons and injuring
nine others.
Explaining the
problem, Thanh said the number of private vehicles, especially motorcycles,
has increased rapidly while the expansion of the city’s roads has been
insignificant. There are no separate lanes for buses, leading to traffic
chaos.
In addition, some
drivers do not follow traffic rules seriously. There have been a lot of
complaints about bad behaviors of bus drivers and fare collectors.
Thanh said there
are over one million bus commuters a day. According to some surveys, around
70% of local residents expect buses to run on time.
In long term, it is
necessary to develop infrastructure for bus traffic. Initially, buses should
have separate lanes on some big roads, he said.
Currently, the
management board for construction and investment of urban traffic works in
HCMC is developing a green traffic project, building the first bus rapid
transit (BRT) line along Vo Van Kiet Avenue from the new Mien Tay Coach
Station in Binh Chanh District to Cat Lai intersection in District 2. The
project is funded by the World Bank.
This year, the city
government will give bus subsidies totaling over VND1.3 trillion. The
department also announced to maintain bus fares unchanged this year.
Source: VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/ND
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Thứ Tư, 26 tháng 3, 2014
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