Social News 26/6 PM gives nod to coastal highway project The Prime Minister has approved a plan to build a coastal highway in the north. The 160km-long highway will pass through six coastal provinces and cities of Thanh Hoa, Ninh Binh, Nam Dinh and Thai Binh, as well as Hai Phong and Quang Ninh. The project is scheduled to be completed by 2020, except some sections that will pass through Thai Binh and Nam Dinh provinces, which will be completed after 2020. The detailed plan had been approved in January 2010. The coastal highway is one of the key transport projects that will play an important role in the socio-economic strategies of the region. The Prime Minister has asked the Ministry of Transport and relevant agencies to set up plans for implementation. The project will need a large investment capital. So the Ministry of Planning and Investment has been asked to prepare detailed financial plans. Close co-operation among the local authorities and relevant offices is required to ensure completion of the project as per schedule. In March, the leaders of the provinces held a meeting to discuss the preparatory work for the project. Quang Ninh Province's People's Committee Chairman Nguyen Van Doc said his province agreed the project would help to increase the competiveness of the whole region, as well as create opportunities for the socio-economic development of each province. Meanwhile, earlier this week, a 100km-long coastal highway in the central southern Ninh Thuan Province was opened to traffic. The highway plays an important role in the economy, politics, culture and national defence and security of the province in particular, and the central southern region in general. The VND4.6-trillion (US$213 million) Ninh Thuan coastal highway was built with aid from the government bond capital fund and assistance fund. Woman tests negative for MERS at Vietnam hospital A woman has tested negative for the potentially deadly MERS virus at a Vietnam hospital, authorities said on June 24, as a recent outbreak in Saudi Arabia has triggered alarms throughout the world. The 24 year-old had sought treatment at a clinic in Lam Dong province for a runny nose and fever after returning from a trip and transiting through the Abu Dhabi International Airport in Saudi Arabia. Health officials at the Preventive Health Department under the Vietnam Ministry of Health said they will continue to monitor and test people who travel through Saudi Arabia or any area known to have reported cases of MERS. MERS is a respiratory virus that was first identified in humans in Saudi Arabia three years ago. Symptoms include fever, cough, and shortness of breath, though it can lead to more serious complications like pneumonia and kidney failure. The virus has since been identified in Asia and the US, with 1,352 MERS cases resulting in 479 deaths in 27 countries around the globe. Two Peruvian sentenced to prison for stealing from foreigners A court in Hanoi on June 24 handed down prison terms to two Peruvian men for stealing from foreigners who stayed in luxury hotels in the capital city in January. The Hanoi People's Court sentenced William Rafael Aguilar Villanueva, 43, to 9 months imprisonment and Jose Marcelino Velasquez Aviles, 62, 7 months. The duo will be expelled from Vietnam after serving time. According to the indictment, Villanueva met Aviles when they were applying for visa to Vietnam in Cambodia. They exchanged phone numbers and agreed to team up steal from guests at luxury hotels in Hanoi. In Hanoi, they stayed at two different motels several kilometers apart but contacted each other on phones and traveled together by taxi or hired motorbike. The duo often looked for potential victims at breakfast buffet area at luxury hotels. They carried along bags and coats to cover stolen property, mostly purses, cameras and cell phones. They were arrested on January 8 when they were attempting to sell an iPad they had stolen from a Canadian citizen. Senior Lieutenant Colonel Ngo Van Dap said the police began investigating after some hotels lodged a series of complaints about their guests being targeted by foreign thieves. Children receive free heart checkup, treatment A group of doctors from Ha Noi Heart Hospital conducted free heart examination and provided treatment for children under age 18 in the northern mountainous province of Cao Bang. Some 532 children from Nguyen Binh and Quang Uyen districts were examined during the three-day programme that started on Monday. The doctors found six children needing heart surgeries and gave them the guidance to procure financial support for surgeries. The volunteer doctors also spoke to families who attended the programme that ended today about innate heart diseases and the benefits of early diagnosis and treatment. Dong Nai creates 47,000 jobs in six months Southern Dong Nai Province created 47,000 jobs in the first half of this year, according to the province's Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs. This is equal to 52 per cent job generation in the entire year. The province plans to create 44,000 more jobs by the end this year, the department added. Apart from recruitments by enterprises, local people found jobs in several social programmes for poverty reduction and rural vocational training. Dong Nai has set a target to generate 90,000 jobs for local people this year. The current demand for workers in enterprises based in the province has been very high. Hence, the target looks easy to meet, the department's officials observed. With the creation of more jobs, the local economy has been developing dramatically, enterprises have been expanding production, and social programmes have been working effectively, the department pointed out. Foreign direct investment (FDI) businesses have led in creating the maximum number of jobs by employing 457,000 of total 850,000 workers in the province. A worker in an FDI firm earns an average monthly wage of VND5 million (US$230). In the first half of the year, FDI businesses recruited 22,000 workers, accounting for 50 per cent of total jobs created in the province. However, in recent years, the flow of migrant workers to Dong Nai Province has reduced, so many businesses are facing a shortage of workers, which has also affected their production. Work-related lung disorders affect several workers Nearly 28,000 people suffer from occupational diseases in Viet Nam, reports released at a scientific conference on lung cancer and work-related lung diseases in Ha Noi said yesterday. The number could be higher, the reports at the conference organised by the National Lung Hospital said, adding there were six work-related lung diseases. Health insurance covers 30 work-related diseases. Pneumoconiosis was the most common disease, comprising 74 per cent of the total. Work-related respiratory diseases rank second, comprising 32 per cent of the total, followed by noise pollution-related health problems, with 17 per cent. Nearly two million workers, or nearly four per cent of the country's workers, underwent health examination in 2012, the health ministry (MoH) said. Experts from the National Lung Hospital said there should be focus on occupational diseases of the lungs and the bronchial tube, as early detection would limit the impact of the diseases. The country does not have any clinics or hospitals for treating workers suffering from work-related lung diseases. Workers in the mining, building materials and mechanical sectors can get pneumoconiosis, the MoH said. Vietnam Airlines offers special promotion on Japan route The national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines is offering a promotion on its flights between Hanoi and Japan’s Haneda Airport in Tokyo on the occasion of the route’s one year anniversary. Accordingly, return tickets for Hanoi- Haneda will be VND10,750,000 (US$500) for economic class, and VND21,478,500 (US$999) for business class. The special rates will be applicable for flights departing from June 25 to July 31, 2015, and does not include taxes, fees, and additional charges. Vietnam Airlines officially operated the route on July 1, 2014 with seven flights a week. It is the company’s ninth routes between Vietnam and Japan. Deputy PM talks food safety with foreign donors, organisations Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam held a working session on June 24 with representatives of foreign donors and organisations on ensuring food safety and hygiene in Vietnam. According to the Ministry of Health’s Food Safety and Hygiene Department, in recent years, food safety issue has received special attention by the Vietnamese Party, Government and National Assembly. In early 2012, the Prime Minister approved a National Strategy on Food Safety for 2011-2020 with a vision to 2030. The strategy aims to equip 70 percent of food farmers, processors, businessmen, 80 percent of managers and 79 percent of consumers with knowledge about food safety and thus adopting corresponding actions by 2015. It also sets the target that all localities put in place their food safety management system and all supermarkets and half of wet markets are monitored in terms of food safety and hygiene by the year. However, Deputy PM Dam shared with the delegates that at present, 80 percent of food sold at small markets has yet to receive full quarantine, while many farmers are lacking knowledge in using fertilizers, pesticides and growth stimulants. Therefore, he stressed the importance of narrowing the gap in quality between products sold at supermarkets and markets, controlling the smuggling of pesticides, and growth stimulants, and reorganising food production and distribution systems at markets. For the long term, Vietnam should speed up the development of a distribution system in supermarket chains and supply chains of farmers, while for the short term, the country should continue installing mobile food testing machines at markets, he suggested. The Deputy PM also asked Ministries of Health, Agriculture and Rural Development, and Industry and Trade to cooperate to improve the efficiency of food safety and hygiene quarantine centres and labs. Agreeing with his opinions, representatives of foreign donors and organisations hoped for closer coordination between ministries and sectors to ensure the quality and implementation progress of ODA projects and programmes relating to food safety and hygiene. Friendship union launches English-language website The Thoi Dai ( Vietnam Times) newspaper of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO) on June 24 launched a English-language website at http://vietnamfriendship.vn./ . It also includes a column covering the 20th anniversary of the Vietnam-US relations normalisation. The website will provide updated information on policies of the Party and State, the country’s achievements of national defence and construction and give insight reports on the Vietnamese culture, thus connecting Vietnam with other countries and boosting people-to-people exchange. Editor-in-chief of Thoi Dai Newspaper Le Quang Thien said at the launching ceremony that the website also serves as a forum fostering exchange and cooperation between foreign friends and businesses with Vietnamese partners. VUFO Chairman Vu Xuan Hong highlighted the significance of the website’s debut, expressing his hope that it will be able to meet increasing demand of information of English-speaking readers. The website also has a Chinese version. 1,000 gifts for needy kids One thousand gifts will be presented to underprivileged children in 10 provinces and cities nationwide as part of the programme “Thap sang nhung uoc mo” (Keep your dreams alive). According to Deputy Chairman of the Vietnamese Children’s Rights Protection Association (VAPCR) Do Duc Ngo, the gifts will be distributed in Hanoi, the northern provinces of Lao Cai and Bac Ninh, the central provinces of Thanh Hoa, Quang Tri and Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City and Long An provinces in the south. Earlier, the organizing board presented 450 gifts to children in three communes of Bat Xat district, Lao Cai province and provided free medical exams for 200 disadvantaged children in District 7 of HCM City. The board is also scheduled to hold several supporting programmes and present gifts to students from vocational schools in Dong Nai, Ninh Binh and Da Nang. Co-hosted by VAPCR and the New Media Culture Limited Company, the programme, the second of its kind, will be celebrated at an event in Hanoi on June 28. Tay Ninh, Cambodian provinces intensify anti-crime efforts Police forces of the southern province of Tay Ninh and Cambodian provinces of Pray Veng, Svay Rieng and Tboung Khmum will intensify anti-crime efforts under an agreement signed on June 24. During the signing ceremony in Tay Ninh province, both sides agreed to address emerging border issues in the spirit of solidarity, friendship and mutual respect, while working to prevent bad elements from destroying border markers, speaking ill of the two governments or dividing the long-standing friendship between the two peoples. They are set to fight crimes, especially those involving terrorism; drug, human and weapon trafficking; armed robbery; money laundering; cyber crime; smuggling; and trade fraud; and coordinate in tracking wanted criminals and facilitating cross-border trade and travelling for study and health examinations. Since 2012, Tay Ninh police and their Cambodian counterparts have uncovered numerous criminal cases, arresting 12 drug traffickers and four arms dealers, rescuing 8 Vietnamese women sold to Cambodia and confiscating hundreds of stolen and ambiguously-sourced items along border areas. Toll station tonnage scales to check vehicle weight The Long Phuoc Toll Station in the city's District 9 will be equipped with tonnage scales to check the weight of vehicles. Head of the control centre of HCM City – Long Thanh – Dau Giay Highway Phan Dam Sa said by the end of this month, vehicles would be checked for their tonnage before being allowed to pass through Long Phuoc Station. Vehicle with excess weight and load will be fined. They would have to use a special lane and would even be refused access to the highway, the official said. The station will be equipped with automatic induction quartz scale and cameras. The computer will automatically check the vehicle's information with the registration agencies. The quartz scales will be installed on the road and will automatically weigh the vehicles that pass through. The scale cannot be destroyed by drivers of vehicles carrying excess weight. The scale is worth VND2 billion (roughly US$900,000), funded by the transport ministry. The system of scales has been installed at toll stations on highways number 14 and 1 and the Noi Bai – Lao Cai Highway.   NIHBT appeals for blood donations The National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion (NIHBT) has asked for blood donations, saying the blood bank had only a week's supply of blood left. This is the first time the largest blood bank in northern Viet Nam has issued such an appeal. The NIHBT said there were only 230 units of blood group A left, which was seven times lower than the ‘safe threshold'. One unit of blood is roughly equivalent to one pint (450ml). The average adult has 10 pints of blood in his or her body. The volume of blood group O – which can substitute for all other blood groups – was decreasing, NIHBT warned. This means that if the stock of blood group A runs out, there will be insufficient stock of blood group O to substitute blood group A. In an interview with Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper, Vice-Director of the institute Pham Tuan Duong said he did not expect the supply of blood to improve till the start of a national blood donation campaign entitled Red Journey, scheduled for July 5. He said his institute needed 150 units of blood group A, and between 230 and 250 units of blood group O every day. All in all, the institute needs 5,000 units of donated blood per week. Duong said in the first two weeks of June already, the amount of donated blood had fallen by 40 per cent. "Meanwhile, the demand for blood from patients remains unchanged as compared with the previous months' averages," Duong said. He said the scarcity of donated blood was probably due to the fact that it was vacation time of students, who usually are a strong army of blood donors, and the hot weather that prevented people from visiting donation centres. The NIHBT's blood bank is fed by blood donations from 12 provinces and 29 districts of Ha Noi. The blood bank supplies blood to 120 hospitals in Ha Noi and other northern provinces. A number of hospitals with high blood demand in Ha Noi, including Bach Mai Hospital and E Hospital, have said their blood reserves could meet only 15 per cent of the demand in their hospitals. Cardiac risks: regular tests a must People with family history of heart disease should be screened regularly to test for aortic arch aneurysms, recommends Dr Nguyen Hoang Dinh from the University Medical Centre's cardiac surgery ward in HCM City. An aortic arch aneurysm, which can cause upper chest and back pain, can enlarge and compress both the oesophagus and airway, resulting in hoarseness and difficulty swallowing. Dinh said that these aneurysms had a high risk of fatality if they ruptured. He said the University Medical Centre had performed surgery on five patients with aortic arch aneursyms. The disease develops without symptoms. A late diagnosis can result in death. Patients with heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes, and those who have a family history of heart disease, should be screened regularly. Aneurysms are most common in the belly area, known as an abdominal aortic aneurysm. Like thoracic aortic aneurysms, abdominal aortic aneurysm do not cause symptoms. If they rupture, there is an 85 per cent chance of them killing the carrier. Dinh said the hospital would carry out an examination on risk groups, including men more than 55 years old, smokers, people with high blood pressure or heart disease, and those whose family has a history of aneurysms. Each year, nearly 200,000 Vietnamese die from heart-related diseases. Confusion derailing railway sector plans Uncertainty among both State agencies and prospective investors about different investment forms is preventing effective mobilisation of all resources for developing the railway sector, says Deputy Transport Minister Nguyen Ngoc Dong. He told a review meeting last week that private investors found the sector attractive, but were discouraged by several snags in project implementation, including a lack of guidelines, ineffective co-ordination and overlapping functions among management agencies. Vu Ta Tung, General Director of Viet Nam Railway Corporation (VRC), concurred with the Deputy Minister, saying it was not sure how it should act upon the many proposals it received from investors. "For instance, many investors complain that the Ministry of Transport has not issued guidelines on how to implement a public private partnership (PPP) project," he said. "Both the VRC and investors lack confidence in complying with State regulations on different forms of investment," he added. He cited as an example a project to build a railway logistics centre and domestic container warehouse at the Yen Vien Station. The VRC has proposed to the Transport Ministry that the right to operate the container warehouse at Yen Vien Station in Ha Noi is leased out to private firms. It has also chosen the Logistics ILT Railway Joint Stock Company as a firm capable of developing container transportation by rail, but the ministry is in the process of selecting a consultant to ensure that the investment is effective, and therefore, yet to respond to the proposal. Vu Quang Khoi, Director of the Viet Nam Railway Authority, said determining how to recoup investment remained a problem, especially for small projects. "Investors are anxious. Will they gain capital directly from the work or through the collection of transportation fees?" he was quoted by Tin tuc (News) newspaper as saying. Besides, the Transport Ministry and VRC haven't announced the standards for technical evaluation of railway infrastructure that can provide a foundation for investors to operate, he said. Deputy Minister Dong said the above-mentioned difficulties resulted from a lack of clarity in establishing who is in charge of managing infrastructure development for the railway sector. He said the different kinds of infrastructure required need to be classified properly before calling for investors. He said the ministry would issue regulations soon on the functions and responsibilities of State agencies in implementing PPP projects. Vu Nam Nguyen, deputy Director General of the Railway Project Management Unit, highlighted a contradiction in the railway sector. "While the VRC, which directly manages the sector, is supposed to propose investment projects, it is functioning mainly as a State management agency that receives and responds to investors' proposals," he said. Deputy Minister Dong asked the corporation to be more active in implementing schemes and propose in a timely manner mechanisms for overcoming obstacles. For existing railway lines and related infrastructure like railway stations and warehouses, the VRC should receive investment proposals, study them and set up plans or submit a report to the Transport Ministry on problems that need to be solved, he said. On transferring the right to operate existing railway projects, the Viet Nam Railway Authority has proposed that the PPP committee under the Transport Ministry allows it to implement a pilot mechanism to assess its feasibility. Under this mechanism, the Railway Project Management Unit would be the State agency authorized to propose investment forms for projects establishing new routes like Ha Noi-Hai Phong, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Sai Gon-Loc Ninh. The PPP committee will be responsible for the relocation of roads and stations, including the removal of Da Nang Station and other related works out of the city centre. Meanwhile, Ho Minh Hong, General Director of the Deo Ca Investment Joint Stock Company, said state participation and assistance was crucial for railway projects as they require substantial investment that can only be recouped over many years. He said PPP was the most suitable investment model for railway projects as the State can provide support for activities like site clearance, freeing private investors to focus on building stations and installing equipment. Vietnam Medi-Pharm Expo 2015 to take place in August The 15th Vietnam Medi-Pharm Expo 2015 will be held at Tan Binh Exhibition and Convention Center in Ho Chi Mih City from August 20-22. More than 200 local and foreign companies from 20 countries and territories around the world, such as Germany, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, India, China, Taiwan (China) featuring hundreds of display booths will join the event. The expo presents the latest medical and pharmaceutical products, a wide range of medical equipment and instruments, ophthalmological and dental products. It is a chance for enterprises to introduce their products and services, exchange experiences and seek for counter-parts. Vietnam's medical equipment imports from foreign markets is estimated at over US$800 million and will reach a staggering US$1.2 billion by 2016 at a compounded annual growth rate of 18 percent in the 2012-2017 period. At present, 90% of medical equipment used in hospitals and medical stations in the country are imported from abroad. Nghe An: Over 77 percent of fishing boats access insurance Over 77 percent of fishing boats in the central province of Nghe An are insured with total fees of more than 14 billion VND (667,000 USD) collected in the first six months of 2015. Accordingly, local fishermen paid 2.1 billion VND (100,000 USD), and nearly 12 billion VND (572,000 USD) was provided by the State budget. The number of fishermen receiving insurance reached 9,168, representing 64.2 percent. Hoang Mai commune in Quynh Luu district has 90 percent of its fishermen insured. The province reports losses worth tens of billions of VND due to fishing boat accidents every year. Nghe An province has coordinated with Ministry of Finance (MOF) to organise fishing boat insurance programmes in the localities in an attempt to minimise damages when accidents occur. Since 2014, the province has had 66 fishing boat-related accidents causing 2 billion VND (97,600 USD) in damages. To date, insurance units have compensated 42 cases with 750 million VND (35,700 USD) disbursed. Besides insurance policies for fishing boats and fishermen, the province has also implemented training and supporting programmes to ensure they benefit from Government Decree 67. Decree 67/2014/ND-CP, taking effect from August 25 last year, provides basic policies to encourage fishermen to build high-capacity steel ships capable of fishing offshore, a practice that could earn fishermen higher incomes and contribute to protecting the country’s territorial waters. Oxfam brings sustainability to coastal residents in Tra Vinh The “Partnership for equitable resilience to the impacts of climate change of coastal communities in deltas of Vietnam” project in Tra Vinh helped generate a sustainable way of life among residents living in coastal areas. A meeting between Oxfam, a global aid and development charity, and Tra Vinh’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development was held on June 23 to conclude the project which was implemented from September 2012 to June 2015. The project was executed by the department with a total investment of 11.5 billion VND (527,000 USD) from a non-refundable sponsorship by the Australian Government. The goal of the project was to enhance climate change response capacity, recovery and adaptation for those vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters. After the three-year implementation in 10 communes of Chau Thanh and Cau Ngang districts, the projects produced positive results, helping reduce disaster impacts and increase climate change response capacity for local governments and communities. The project also helped residents in coastal areas improve their livelihoods and manage eco-systems sustainably. Over the past three years, more than 1,000 households received livelihood support and assistance, such as in breeding cow raising or growing maize. The most successful model is the group that manages the Con Chim eco-system at Minh Hoa commune, Chau Thanh district, which was formed in November 2014. It is the first model dedicated to protecting an ecosystem and warning and responding to disasters in Mekong Delta. The group includes 100 households who live along the banks of the Con Chim River, a branch of the Co Chien River, and is used to live off fishing, using tools destructive to seafood resources. The formation of the group helped build awareness among households and encourage them to commit to protecting forest and seafood resources and cope with rising tides and landslides. Besides being equipped with patrol vehicles to supervise and prevent forest deforestation and illegal fishing, impoverished households received 10 to 15 million VND (450-690 USD) each to support their new livelihoods. Ha Giang: Co Lao ethnic minority improves living conditions The Co Lao ethnic minority people in northern mountainous Ha Giang province have benefited from a project on socio-economic development implemented from 2011 through 2020, a local official said. Since 2013, three communal houses have been built in Vinh Dao commune of Bac Quang district, Thuong Son commune of Vi Xuyen district and in Tung San commune of Hoang Su Phi district. Facilities have also been developed to supply power to residents in Phu Lung and Mau Long communes in Yen Minh district. Investments have been made in rural road systems, health care services and public and domestic sanitation works. Local farmers have received access to preferential loans to facilitate their agricultural and forest production. Additionally, residential clusters have been organised to boost socio-economic development for the Co Lao minority ethnic people. The project has helped reduce the impoverished household rate among the Co Lao minority ethnic group to around 20 percent from 50 percent, according to Nguyen Van Duong, Head of the Ethnic Minorities Department in Vi Xuyen district. During a recent visit to Ha Giang, Deputy Head of the Government Committee for Ethnic Minorities Hoang Xuan Luong hailed the outputs to date under the project. He urged the locality to include social matters in the province’s socio-economic development and provide resources for the development of local mountainous areas in general and the Co Lao ethnic minorities in particular. The Co Lao ethnic people, whose language belongs to the Kadai group, has a population of over 2,600, mainly in Ha Giang province. Bridges on highways to be upgraded The Vietnam Road Department has approved a project for the repair and upgrade of bridges on national highways across the country. According to the department, there are about 163 bridges on 37 highways that need to be repaired, upgraded and widened to handle the volume of traffic. The total investment capital required for the project from the road maintenance fund was estimated to be 770 billion VND (35.3 million USD), the department said. In the 2015-2017 period, 78 bridges will be upgraded and reinforced at a cost of 393.8 billion VND (18 million USD) that will come from the central road maintenance fund. The upgrade and repair of the remaining 85 bridges will be done when the transport ministry allocates funds for it. Meanwhile, HCM City's transport department has suggested to the municipal authority that a new bridge should be built to replace the 90-year-old Nhi Thien Duong Bridge 1. The condition of the old bridge has seriously deteriorated, and it cannot handle the volume of traffic. The new bridge of the same design will cost an estimated 163 billion VND (roughly 7.4 million USD). Meanwhile, the old bridge will be upgraded and kept for show only, the department said. The 1km-long Nhi Thien Duong Bridge 1 was built in 1925, across Doi Canal in District 8. The bridge links District 8 and the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta provinces. The bridge, built in European style with green pillars, is an iconic structure for the local people. Australia-funded eye project benefits people in Ba Ria-Vung Tau A project run by the Australia-based Brien Holden Vision Institute benefited thousands of people in the Tan Thanh and Chau Duc districts of southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province. During the second phase of the project, implemented in the two districts from July 2014-June 2015, two optical clinics were established to provide refractive index measurement for more than 1,200 locals. They also cooperated with other eye centres to offer free eye exams to nearly 4,000 others and minor surgeries to over 300 patients. Approximately 18,500 students at local primary and secondary schools received eye exams. Moreover, the project also helped improve the capacity of medical staff in the districts. In the first phase, carried out in Xuyen Moc and Dat Do districts, more than 20 ophthalmologists and technicians and over 300 local medical staff received intensive training. The project also provided eye exams for some 40,000 students at 56 secondary schools and presented 4,000 pairs of glasses to students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Three optical clinics were established in the districts and have since offered services to more than 15,000 people. Source: VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri