Social News 15/5 Startup contest opens to young participants   The fourth annual Startup Wheel 2016 contest was launched on Wednesday. — Photo hanoimoi.com.vn The fourth annual Startup Wheel 2016 contest was launched on Wednesday by the HCM City Youth Federation's Business Startup Support Centre (BSSC) in co-operation with the HCM City Young Business People Association (YBA). BSSC Director Truong Ly Hoang Phi, who is also secretary of the YBA and head of the contest organisation committee, said "Thanks to incentive policies and startup idea contests, young people will have an opportunity to start and promote their own businesses with support from the business community. The Startup Wheel is the right place for them to prove their potential." The first Startup Wheel contest kicked off in 2013 in HCM City. Eligible participants included students and young people, but the competition is now open to anyone in the country. This year's contest is divided into two categories, the first for people who have run businesses with their own products or services for under five years; and the second for people under 35 who have an idea for a business product, service or model. The winner of the first group of contestants will be awarded VND200 million (US$9,000) and the second group will receive VND100 million ($4,500). As of yesterday, 400 submissions had already been recieved. More are expected by the end of the month. For the first three years, there were 214, 348 and 536 submissions with the participation of 3,000; 5,000 and 10,000 people, respectively. Total capital supporting the startup ideas rose from VND800 million ($40,000) in 2013 to VND10 billion ($450,000) in 2014 and over VND11 billion in 2015 ($500,000). Hải Dương launches souvenir design contest The Hải Dương Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism has launched a design contest on handicraft souvenirs that will remind tourists of the province’s cultural and tourism features. The contest is opened to all organisations and individuals able to design and produce finished products can participate in the contest. Entries include souvenirs and handicrafts made from wood, rattan, bamboo, plastic, composite, and other materials, with priority given to those made of environmentally friendly materials. Submitted designers should not be available on the market. Contestants can hand in their submissions from now to November 30 via post to 73 Bach Đằng Street, Hải Dương city. The awards presentation ceremony is scheduled to take place early next year. Lào Cai ethnic festival to be held The 13th Cultural, Sports and Tourism Festival of ethnic groups in the northern region will take place in Lào Cai Province in October, according to the Ministry of Cultural, Sports and Tourism. The purpose of the festival is to introduce the cultural characteristics of ethnic groups as well as promote the region’s tourism strengths. The event will include participation of eight provinces -  Lào Cai, Hòa Bình, Sơn La, Điện Biên, Lai Châu, Yên Bái, Phú Thọ and Hà Giang. A series of cultural activities will be organised, including performances of excerpts of outstanding ethnic group festivals, mass art performances, traditional ethnic clothing shows, an exhibition on cultural products and tourism, and a photo exhibition on specific cultural identities in the region. Thousands of artists from the provinces will take part. A fair featuring handicrafts and traditional ethnic musical instruments will also be held. HCM City welcomes 1.8 million foreign tourists Nearly 1.8 million foreign tourists visited HCM City in the first four months of the year, a year-on-year increase of 14 per cent, according to a report from the municipal People’s Committee. Total tourism turnover in the period reached nearly VNĐ34 trillion (US$1.52 billion), up 7 per cent over the same period last year. In April, the southern city welcomed more than 402,000 foreign arrivals, with turnover from the tourism sector reaching over VNĐ8.63 trillion ($386.99 million), a rise of 9 per cent from the same period last year. To attract more tourists in the near future, apart from ensuring a safe and friendly tourism environment, the city tourism sector should survey new products, tours and routes, and improve the quality of products and services with a focus on developing waterway tourism and art performances to serve tourists and others. The city targets to receive 5.1 million foreign tourists and provide services for 21.8 million domestic travelers this year. Chăm ethnic group to hold cultural festival A special sports, culture and tourism festival of the Chăm ethnic group will be held in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province of An Giang between July 15 and 17. The festival will feature art shows, a show of traditional costumes for daily wear, festivals and wedding usage, and sports competitions. A culinary fair introducing Chăm specialty food and beverages will also take place, along with the demonstrations of brocade weaving, pottery, handicrafts, and other traditional industries of the Chăm people. A conference on preserving and developing Chăm culture in parallel with the development of the country will be included. The event is expected to attract Chăm residents from 11 localities including Đà Nẵng, Quảng Nam, Bình Định, and HCM City. Gov't funds aid Kiên Giang's marine economy The marine economy in Mekong Delta’s Kiên Giang Province has developed rapidly over the past five years after local government investment of VNĐ111 trillion (US$5 billion) in the 2011 – 15 period, Vietnam News Agency reported. Funds earmarked for marine infrastructure and national defense contribute up to 80 per cent of the province’s total investment budget, according to Kiên Giang Province’s People’s Committee. The funds have been used to build and upgrade the seaports, airports and transport systems of Phú Quốc Island and surrounding islands, including Lại Sơn, An Sơn, Thổ Châu, and the sheltering area for boats in Kiên Hải District. Electricity grids on Phú Quốc Island, and Hòn Tre Island in Kiên Hải District were built amongst other projects. The projects helped improve conditions for people living in coastal regions and islands in the province. Phạm Vũ Hồng, chairman of Kiên Giang Province’s People’s Committee, said the province’s marine economy had developed well, growing on average 11 per cent per annum. The marine economy contributes 73 per cent to Kiên Giang’s GDP. Fishing, aquaculture, marine services, seafood processing and marine tourism have made strong progress in the past five years. With better infrastructure, the province has been able to attract strategic investors to Phú Quốc Island. Between 2016 and 2020, the province will continue to invest further in socio-economic infrastructure, making Kiên Giang one of the most developed provinces in the country. The province will invest further in major projects, including the Southern Corridor between Hà Tiên Town and Rạch Giá City, Hồ Chí Minh Highway from Lộ Tẻ T-junction (Cần Thơ City) to Rạch Sỏi Ward (Rạch Giá City) and other major roads in the locality. The province also plans to invest in electricity for agriculture and aquaculture production, and the upgrading of roads on the islands of Kiên Hải, Kiên Lương, Phú Quốc District and in Hà Tiên Town. Marine tourism development is a priority in Kiên Giang, with the aim of turning Phú Quốc Island into an advanced eco-tourism area for the region and wider world. The maritime economy will also be a focus, with seaport services and shipbuilding receiving investment to satisfy growing demand for cargo and passenger transportation to Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia. HCM City sees increase in job creation More than 41,400 new jobs were created in HCM City in the first four months of the year, a year-on-year increase of 0.49 per cent, according to a report by the Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs. Trần Anh Tuấn, deputy director of the city’s Centre for Forecasting Manpower Needs and Labour Market Information, attributed this to the fact that many companies have been expanding operations. They need 20,000 workers this month, 30 per cent of them college and university graduates, he said. Workers with vocational training and unskilled ones will account for 35 per cent each. Demand is high in the textile and garment, information technology, architecture, construction, real estate, transportation, and foreign trade sectors. The number of job seekers is estimated to rise in the next few months as new graduates come into the market, Tuấn said. Highly skilled workers would be in great demand for the rest of the year, he said. Companies based in industrial parks and export processing zones need 25,360 workers this year, according to the HCM City Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority (HEPZA). Around 14,600 of them are needed for the companies to expand operations, Trần Công Khanh, head of the HEPZA office, said.     Most of the vacancies are in the footwear, electronics and textile and garment sector, with manual jobs accounting for a majority. Demand for mid-level and senior managers rose dramatically -- by 48 per cent year-on-year -- in the first quarter of the year, according to a report from Navigos Search, a provider of executive search services. The manufacturing sector ranked first in terms of demand with 29 per cent, followed by consumer goods and retail (16 per cent) and banking/ insurance/ securities/ finance (12 per cent).     In terms of jobs, workers in sales and marketing, IT engineering, electrical-electronic engineering, and human resources were the most in demand. In March demand for workers rose by 60 per cent over February 50 per cent over January. The demand is likely to keep rising in the second and third quarters, according to a survey conducted by recruitment website JobStreet.com. The survey, which polled more than 370 companies in the first quarter, found that more than 80 per cent planned to hire more staff than last year. Human resources are most sought after in sales, marketing, information and communications technology and engineering. Hàm Nghi-Vũng Áng road proposed in central province The Project Management Board Unit 85 has submitted a project proposal to the Ministry of Transport to build a highway that would connect Hàm Nghi and Vũng Áng in the central province of Hà Tĩnh. The 53.4km route would begin at Hàm Nghi Road in Hà Tĩnh City and end in Kỳ Anh Town. The route would have four lanes with a designated speed of 100km per hour. Total investment capital for the project is VNĐ6.7 trillion (US$293 million). In the first phase, the designed route would be 17m wide with a designated speed of 80km per hour. Thirteen key bridges and three additional bridges would be built on an area of about 362ha. The unit has requested State budget funds totalling VNĐ2.1 trillion ($94.1 million) and funds from build-operate-transfer (BOT) investors totalling VNĐ5.2 trillion ($234 million). According to the unit, the BOT investors will be allowed to collect toll fees for 22 years and eight months. After that, the Government will take over the right to operate the road. A toll would be implemented in 2020 at a cost of VNĐ1,500 per vehicle per kilometre. The fee would be increased by 12 per cent every three years. The project would be launched in the first quarter of next year if it is approved by the Ministry of Transport. The construction process would reach completion in 2020. The Hàm Nghi-Vũng Áng highway would link the north central region and northern region. It would reduce the traffic on National Highway No 1 and meet growing transport needs on the north-south route, promoting economic development and strengthening traffic safety, the unit said. Construction of Đắk Brot hydropower plant suspended due to lengthy delays The People’s Committee of the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum has decided to withdrawn the investment certificate of Đắk Brot Hydropower Plant and stop construction in response to long delays. The investment certificate withdrawal is expected to be completed today. Earlier, Tuổi Trẻ (Youth) newspaper reported that the construction site of the project in Đắk Glei District has been turned into a gold mining field, polluting the surrounding environment and angering local residents. Đắk Brot Hydropower Plant was given a construction permit six years ago, and the project was expected to cost over VNĐ56.7 billion (US$2.5 million), but no progress has been made since then. The plant would reportedly cover over eight hectares of land, including protected forest and farming land owned by locals. The hydropower plant, which was originally slated for completion in 2012, would have a capacity of two megawatts. Local residents who witnessed the project’s prolonged delay said that big machines and a lot of workers were dispatched there, but they were mining gold rather than building the plant. Đắk Brot stream used to be clean, but the water has become tainted and seriously polluted since the gold mining started, they said. A Phương, deputy chairman of the People’s Committee of Đắk Glei District, told Tuổi Trẻ newspaper that the investor, Phúc Kim Tâm Company, signed a contract with an individual named Thân Văn Tám, a local of Đắk Glei District, to mine gold in the area without any permission from local authorities. The district People’s Committee has conducted inspections, but the violations still continue, he said. In an interview with the newspaper, Bùi Thị Kim Tâm, director of Phúc Kim Tâm Company, denied the company’s involvement in any gold exploitation. She said the company was levelling land to create suitable farming space for locals. “We hired a unit to level the land surface, but it exploits the mine on its own free will,” she said. Notably, this is not a rare case in Đắk Glei District. A district official said there are currently six or seven hydropower plant projects in the region, but none have produced electricity yet. The reasons for the delays vary from dam breaks to a lack of capital. Thua Thien-Hue: remains of fallen soldiers in Laos reburied A reburial ceremony was held in a cemetery in Hue city of central Thua Thien-Hue province on May 13 for the remains of 15 Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who died in Laos during wartime. The remains were found by Team 192 of the province’s Military Command from 2015-2016 in Laos’ Salavan and Sekong provinces. Speaking at the ceremony, leaders of the province highlighted the great services of the martyrs, who sacrificed their lives for the liberation of Laos, affirming that the sacrifice reflects the special friendship between the two Parties, Governments and people. Local authorities took the occasion to call for support from the two Lao provinces in providing information on the location of remains, and in searching and collecting the remains of Vietnamese martyrs. Over the last decade, along with the assistance of the Lao Party, Government and people, Team 192 found and repatriated over 800 sets of remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts from Laos.- Khanh Hoa: 3,480 households face sever water shortage More than 3,480 households in the central province of Khanh Hoa are facing a severe shortage of water due to the prolonged drought. According to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, residents in the hardest hit communes in Nha Trang city and Cam Lam, Khanh Son, and Van Ninh districts had to purchase tap water from vicinities for daily use. The Hydro-meteorological Station for South Central Vietnam reported that the rainfall in the province has been recorded prevalently at about 10-20 millimeters, 50-83 millimeters lower than many years’ average. Besides, the flow of rivers and springs in the locality was recorded as low as 80-90 percent of the average level in many years. To tackle the problem, the province is in need of more than 8.7 billion VND (391,000 USD) for drilling water wells, building water containers and water delivery to drought hit areas. Meanwhile, Nha Trang city has spent nearly 400 million VND (18,000 USD) from its budget on providing water for residents in Vinh Luong and Phuoc Dong communes during the three peak months of the dry season. The provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said if rain does not arrive in the next coming months, water scarcity will threat about 23,000 households in the province.- VNU to administer SAT Suite of Assessments in South East Asia Dr Sai Cong Hong, director of the Vietnam National University Test Centre, has announced the Centre has been notified it is the likely candidate to manage the SAT Suite of Assessments in South East Asia. The SAT Suite of Assessments is an integrated system of tests and scoring that focuses on assisting today’s students get the training they need to solve problems, communicate clearly, and understand complex relationships, said Dr Hong. The tests are designed to – measure the essential ingredients for college and career readiness and success, as shown by research; have a stronger connection to classroom learning; and inspire productive practice. SAT Suite progression is reflected in a common score scale that provides consistent feedback across assessments, which provide insight into specific strengths and weaknesses. The changes in the scores over time provide a visual picture that will help students see where they can improve and teachers adjust instruction for students who are ahead or behind. “I am committed to ensuring the SAT Suite of Assessments system is instituted in the best manner to truly support our students, parents and teachers,” said Dr Hong in making the announcement. New wildlife park in Quy Nhon will open in July The FLC Group has announced plans to open a new wildlife park in the city of Quy Nhon in Binh Dinh province this July. The 200 ha zoo is pushing ahead with its ambitious plans following a design from a similar one in Thailand, said a representative of the FLC Group. Zebras and antelopes will be among the first occupants of the park, which the zoo hopes to open by July. It targets natural interaction between humans and animals so that visitors can enjoy a realistic view of the environment and living habitat of a diverse cross section of wild animal species. Famed DJ Tiesto to perform in Ho Chi Minh City Renowned Dutch DJ and electronic dance music producer Tiesto will come to Vietnam with a one-night only performance in Ho Chi Minh City on December 13, organizers of the Budweiser Festival said. The 46-year-old artist, born as Tijs Michiel Verwest, will perform at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center in District 7, they said. Tiesto’s popularity rose in the early 2000s and he was crowned the “World’s No.1 DJ” three times by DJ Magazine from 2002 through 2004. The producer, known for playing EDM, trance and house, has performed with many world stars like Kanye West, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Nelly Furtado. Tiesto won a Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical for his remixed version of John Legend's hit "All Of Me" in February. Tiesto has 19 million followers on his personal fanpage and over 200 million views for his most successful video on YouTube. Quang Ninh welcomes 300,000 visitors during national holiday Over 300,000 visits were made to the northern province of Quang Ninh during the National Reunification Day and International Labour Day, according to the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The four-day holiday, which started from April 30, saw hotels and guest houses in the province almost filled to capacity with more than 90 percent of rooms occupied. More than 61,000 travellers cruised Ha Long Bay, five times the normal weekday numbers. Also, more than 20,000 tourists joined tours to discover islands in the bay. Co To and Van Don islands had record visitor numbers with more than 15,000 people. Quang Ninh is home to Ha Long Bay, the World Natural Heritage Site, hundreds of national relic sites and several resort cities such as Ha Long, Van Don, and Mong Cai. The province’s tourism sector recorded remarkable achievements in the past decade, reflected in surges in the number of tourists arriving in the locality and turnover. In 2015, Quang Ninh earned 6.5 trillion VND (291.6 million USD) from serving nearly 7.8 million visitors, including 2.8 million foreigners. The province aims to welcome about 10.5 million tourists in 2016. Charitable housing project gives vulnerable people new hope Some 5 billion VND, or approximately 224,500 USD, was donated by Samsung Electrics Corporation to support vulnerable rural people in Habitat for Humanity Vietnam’s project “New home – New hope”. The Republic of Korea-based company and the non-profit housing organisation had a meeting in northern Thai Nguyen province on May 11 to review the project which began in December 2014. Through the project, ten new houses have been constructed for underprivileged people in the province’s Pho Yen district where Samsung’s mobile phone manufacturing facility is based. As many as 41 existing houses have been repaired or renovated while 40 vulnerable families have received support to install water and sanitation systems. In addition, some five kindergarten and primary school classrooms have been renovated in Phuc Thuan commune of the district while two primary schools in Thanh Cong commune have been equipped with drinking water systems. Samsung has sent nearly 100 Korean and Vietnamese volunteers to help with the work. It has also supported local educational and environmental projects, orphans, people with disabilities and the elderly. Founded in 1976, Habitat for Humanity has been devoted to building “simple, decent, and affordable” housing for poor people all over the world. Tien Giang implements project fighting drought, saline intrusion The Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang has implemented a project on managing and mitigating the risk of droughts and floods in the greater Mekong Sub-region. The project, with an investment of 477 billion VND (21 million USD) sourced from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Australia Agency for International Development (AUSAID), will be carried out through 2019. According to Truong Hoang Dieu, Deputy Director of the Management Unit of sub-projects in the Regional Technical Assistance (RETA) project under the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the RETA project in Tien Giang has two sub-projects: upgrading the system of controlling saline intrusion in Go Cong area and controlling and mitigating the risk of floods in Ba Rai – Phu An area. The first project includes three components: the construction of three new sluices, 1,900 metres of road-cum-dykes and auxiliary facilities used for controlling saline intrusion and improving the environment in Go Cong town, keeping fresh water and ensuring water for 35,000 hectares of coastal cultivated land in Go Cong as well as reduce natural disasters. The second project will build 28 sluices to control floods, prevent tides and protect nearly 5,000 hectares of fruit trees in eight communes in Cai Lay and Cai Be districts. Dieu said both projects are at land clearance stage and construction work will begin within the second quarter. Mekong provinces help locals fight drought Authorities in the Mekong Delta provinces have helped locals cope with the prolonged drought and salinity in rivers, minimising the losses caused by the twin disasters. In Kien Giang province, they are using 20 pumps to move saltwater out of the Rach Gia–Long Xuyen and Ong Hien canals, trying to pump the salt water into the sea so that fresh water can flow from upstream into rivers and canals supplying Rach Gia City. Nguyen Huu Hoai Phuong, director of the Kien Giang Water Supply and Drainage Co., said barges are used to carry freshwater, which is then pumped into a reservoir used by the company’s water supply system. “With this water, Kien Giang’s water pumping station can operate at 65 percent of capacity,” Phuong said. In addition, the company has dug three wells to draw more water for people’s daily needs. In Ca Mau province, the chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, Nguyen Tien Hai, has instructed relevant agencies and authorities at district and commune levels to provide financial support to paddy farmers whose fields have been damaged. The prolonged drought has damaged over 51,000ha of paddy fields, of which 33,000ha have been damaged by over 70 percent. It has affected the livelihoods of 36,000 rice farmers. Families who suffered 30-70 percent damage are receiving relief of 1 million VND (44 USD) per hectare of paddy in case of normal seeds and 1.5 million VND (66 USD) in case of hybrid seeds. The total compensation has added up to nearly 90 billion VND, of which 70 percent will come from the Government, 20 percent from the province and 10 percent from the districts. The number of households affected by the natural disasters and the area damaged are on the rise because the drought is on-going, Ca Mau authorities said. In Hau Giang province, if the seawater intrusion into rivers lasts until the end of May, an additional 3,000ha of summer-autumn paddy could be destroyed and farmers in many districts will not be able to farm another 6,000ha (of the summer-autumn crop). If the salinity continues until June, farmers will not be able to grow the year’s third rice crop (of 2016), while traditional crafts (such as water hyacinth knitting) will be suspended due to lack of raw materials. The losses caused by the seawater intrusion in Hau Giang could amount to 150 billion VND (6.7 million USD), according to the province’s People’s Committee. In early May, the provincial authorities measured salinity in Vi Thanh Town, Long My and Vi Thuy districts, and Long My Town, and found them ranging between 0.2 percent and 1.78 percent. Provincial authorities have stepped up forecasts about salinity, built embankments and dredged canals to keep out saltwater and store fresh water for people’s daily needs Meanwhile, groundwater levels in Bac Lieu province are over two metres lower than last year, causing wells to dry up and posing difficulties for production and people’s daily activities, according to the Bac Lieu Centre for Clean Water and Rural Environmental Sanitation for Rural Areas. Nguyen Thi Mai, a resident of Hong Dan district’s Ninh Hoa commune, said a 0.5ha paddy field planted by her family over a month ago has lacked irrigation with canals and wells drying up. “We hope there will be rain soon to save our paddy field.” Luong Ngoc Lan, director of the Bac Lieu Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, has urged relevant agencies to take measures to cope with the problems, like supplying water for residents’ daily needs. But his department has advised farmers not to plant crops and breed shrimp now, telling them to instead wait for rains. The provincial administration has also petitioned the Government for help to enable local residents to stabilise their production and daily activities. Interactive wildlife park on way in Quy Nhon An interactive wildlife park will be launched in July in Quy Nhon city, the provincial capital of south-central Binh Dinh province, and be one of the leading parks of its kind in Southeast Asia. The wildlife park is being built on an area of 200 ha under a design from Thailand’s HKS, a well-known wildlife park design company in Asia. It targets natural interaction between humans and animals so that visitors can enjoy a realistic view of the environment and living habitat of various species. The wildlife park is among the facilities being invested by the FLC Group at the FLC Resort Quy Nhon, a high-end complex that includes a golf course, resorts, villas, and entertainment facilities. False rumor causes loss for mango farmers Mango farmers in Mekong Delta provinces of Tien Giang and Dong Thap have loosen because of rumors saying that use toxic Taiwanese-made bags to wrap their fruits before harvest. Consequently, mango prices have slumped 50 percent since last month and agricultural agencies have hardly encouraged farmers to use plastic bags to wrap fruits for safety, said Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Tien Giang Cao Van Hoa. Agriculture official in Tien Giang province’s Cai Be District Nguyen Van Thanh said that the rumor is totally false. Wrapping mango with plastic bags to improve productivity have been proved by scientists, he said. Deputy President of the Southern Fruit Research Institute Dr. Vo Huu Thoai said that wrapping fruits before harvest is a modern technique used widely around the world to protect the fruits from pests, birds, and diseases and keep the skin color bright. Additionally, wrapping fruits with bags also helps to limit the effect of insecticides on the fruits and makes them ready for consumption, he added. It is also a measure to protect the fruits before exporting the fruits , he said. Most asthma patients in VN can’t manage disease More than 50 per cent of asthma patients have poor control of their disease, despite the availability of treatments to help manage their condition, according to the Society of Asthma and Allergy and Clinical Immunology in HCM City. Asthma is a chronic disease that inflames and narrows airways in the lungs, causing wheezing, chest tightness and coughing. It affects people of all ages, but most frequently begins in childhood, and heavily affects quality of life. Speaking at a press conference in HCM City held yesterday, Prof. Dr. Lê Thị Tuyết Lan, the association’s chairwoman, said that asthma could not be cured but could be managed. About five per cent of Vietnamese population suffer from the disease, but only 40 per cent of asthma patients can manage their disease. This creates a massive burden not only on patients and their families but also on the healthcare system and government due to treatment costs and the need for long-term management. Lan said many asthma patients had not received proper treatment measures, adding that the majority of asthma patients can live normal, active lives if they receive proper treatment, and strictly follow treatment. Doctor Nguyễn Như Vinh said a number of local medical establishments do not have a spirometry machine to diagnose asthma. Some of them have it, but technicians are not skilled in using it, which can lead to an inaccurate diagnosis. Improper use of medication also contributes to poor asthma control in Việt Nam, he said. He said most people with asthma rely on information given by their family and peers and what is available on the internet, which causes them to underestimate their situation. "The main goals of asthma treatment are to restore normal airway functions and prevent severe acute attacks," he said. "Inhalation is the preferred route as this allows the drug to be delivered directly into the airways in smaller doses. This causes fewer side effects than if given orally." Persons with mild asthma may use quick relief medication as needed. Those with persistent asthma should use medicine on a regular basis to prevent asthma attacks. Medication is progressively added depending on the severity and frequency of attacks, he said. Lan said pregnant women with asthma could also use medication to manage their asthma as it is safe for them. Though the cause of asthma is unknown, certain triggers of asthma such as dust, outdoor air pollution, changes in weather, pet hair, and tobacco smoke can make the inflammation worse and cause a narrowing of the airways, she said. James Strenner, chief representative of GlaxoSmithKline Pte. Ltd’s office in HCM City, said: “Because of low awareness and prevention, strengthening awareness of asthma as well as providing knowledge of treatments for healthcare professionals has become the most important issue.” New high-yield rice varieties developed for Quang Tri Two new high-yield drought-tolerant rice varieties have been developed successfully for the Winter-Spring 2015-2016 crop in the central province of Quang Tri. They were evaluated at a conference held by the provincial Centre for animal breeding and plants under the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development on May 10 in An Long Cooperative, Trieu Hoa commune, Trieu Phong district. According to the Centre, the two varieties, LDA1 and AN1, have been grown for trial on three hectares in Vinh Linh, Cam Lo and Trieu Phong districts. LDA1 is expected to produce 6.7 tonnes per hectare, almost 0.7 tonnes higher than that of HT1, a widely-used variety in the province. The Centre will work with localities to promote the varieties. VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri