Social News 19/12 300 people escape deafness, dumbness thanks to cochlear implant One of great achievements in ear-nose-throat health care which the Ear-Nose-Throat Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City performed is a cochlear implant (CI)- a surgically implanted electronic device that provides a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf. Ear-Nose-Throat Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City yesterday announced it has implanted cochlear for 300 people in the period 2000-2016 in its celebration of 30th establishment anniversary and scientific conference 2016. Patients who had been implanted the devices are able to re-gain their hearing The group of adults and children who who have lost their hearing later in life can speak well after one or two year implantation while the group of congenitally deaf people who are undertaken surgery for cochlear implant and learn language can converse after two or three years and integrate with the society well. Experts said that cochlear implantation has great meaning in treating inborn dumb kids who can not speak because of deafness. Accordingly, children are undertaken for cochlear implant before preschool age will help them integrate into the community well and study with normal children. Shop owners abandon identical signboards   Many shops on Hanoi’s Le Trong Tan Street have abandoned local authority dictated signage to improve businesses. Le Trong Tan Street, was planned some 30 years ago and took 13 years to build. It was eagerly anticipated as supposedly portraying the future of urban living in the capital. But in May, many shop owners spoke out against a decision by the local authorities to force all the shops to have the same red or blue shop signs. The identical signs make it difficult for customers to recognise any specific brand. A representative of Hanoi People's Committee on May 12 said businesses that already had their own brands and logos only needed to follow the rules on the size of the sign boards. The owner of the Anh Duc Hair Salon on Le Trong Tan Street said, "We already registered our brand and logos so we can use our own signboard. It's easier for business and for customers." Another shop owner said they were forced to replace the sign because of low quality. The old signboard was at risk of being completely ruined after one rainstorm. They had no choice but to shell out VND4m (USD176) to redesign the sign and install lighting so it could be seen at night. Most owners supported the idea to of uniform measurements for the signage, but wanted the local authorities to allow them to choose the colours and fonts to create their own brands. Another solution suggested business could install vertical signboards. Project supports migrant workers Seventeen self-help groups of migrant workers were formed as the result of a project aimed at supporting rural-urban migrant workers in Hà Nội. According to Nguyễn Thu Giang, vice president of the Institute for Community Health Development LIGHT, migrant workers do not often get exposed to social welfare services despite the fact that they accounted for nearly 10 per cent of the capital city’s total population. Most of them are unofficial labourers who do seasonal jobs and are not under the management of any organisations, which makes them unqualified to receive benefits and enjoy labour policies, she said. The self-help groups were formed with an aim to raise awareness of migrant workers on their rights to receive social welfare services and voice their opinions on economic and political issues. They consist of migrant hawkers and scrap metal collectors currently residing in the two wards of Chương Dương and Phúc Tân in Hoàn Kiếm District. Informative meetings were organised periodically to help the workers get in touch with social aid, such as healthcare services, social insurance registration, employment consultancy and legal and psychological aids. The project was implemented from July 2014 to December 2016 by an action network for migrant workers.  Gov't approves HCM City bridges The Government has approved HCM City’s plans to build two bridges over the Soài Rạp River. The Cát Lái Bridge will link the city’s District 2 with Nhơn Trạch District in Đồng Nai Province. The Bình Khánh Bridge will link Nhà Bè and Cần Giờ districts. The Government also green lighted construction of a new road parallel to the existing National Highway No 50 in the city.  Part of the city’s traffic development master plan, they will all be finished before 2020. The Government has instructed related agencies to complete the formalities for the projects and submit additional plans if there are any before December 31 this year. The city wants to build the 4.5km Cát Lái Bridge – including its approach roads – to facilitate transport of goods from industrial parks on National Highway No 51 and in the Nhơn Trạch urban area to ports in districts 2 and 7. The Bình Khánh Bridge will replace the Bình Khánh ferry, currently the only way to reach Cần Giờ from the city and badly overloaded. The 8.6km road along National Highway No 50 from Nhà Bè District to the border of Long An Province would ease the load on the highway.  Outdoor music show to usher in festive season in HCM City A Christmas music and dance show featuring some of Việt Nam’s superstars will take place in HCM City on Saturday.   The open-air show Lời Tình Mùa Đông (Love in Winter) will feature pop stars Đàm Vĩnh Hưng and Ngọc Sơn and dance groups Hoàng Thông, among others.   Young stars like Dương Triệu Vũ and Thu Hằng will perform alongside veterans Lệ Quyên and Vũ Hà and the pop band MTV.    The concert will showcase Vietnamese and foreign love songs by famous composers, such as Franz X. Gruber, Sufjian Stevens, Nguyễn Vũ and Trịnh Nam Sơn. Over 1,000 people are expected to attend. It will begin at 8pm on December 17 at the 126 Stage in District 1. Luật, Hoàn move to HCM City FC Defenders Trương Đình Luật and Âu Văn Hoàn will officially become members of V.League newcomer HCM City FC this week. Both players ended their contracts with former champions Becamex Bình Dương last month. Hoàn, 27, used to be a player of the national and U23 teams in 2011-12, while Luật, 33, just announced his retirement from the national team last week after Việt Nam lost to Indonesia in the semifinals of the ASEAN Football Federation Suzuki Cup. An official of the club Trần Đình Huấn did not reveal details of the contracts but said the new deals would be strong support for his team, which would face challenges in the national premier league in their return next year. He said there were 12 new players in the club. Together with the senior player and coach French Alain Fiard, HCM City FC would have a quality line-up that was comparable with other rivals in the V.League. Fiard is formerly a coach of Ligue 1’s Auxerre FC. In warm-up matches recently, HCM City FC beat Cần Thơ 2-0, tied Long An 2-2 and drew 3-3 against the national U21 squad.  Dengue, Zika virus infections escalates in HCMC Dengue fever and diseases caused by Zika virus are escalating in these days in Ho Chi Minh City with 19,021 cases of dengue and 130 Zika infections. The news was released at a meeting between the department of Preventive Health Center and 24 districts citywide on December 15. Head of the Center’s Infectious Disease Ward Dr. Le Hong Nga said that 33 wards in the city have both dengue cases and infection cases by Zika virus. Harsh penalties to be issued on businesses using unoriginal food Deputy chairwoman of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Nguyen Thi Thu said at a meeting with an inspection team from the National Assembly on December 15 that city administrators will issue harsh penalties on businesses which can not provide certificates of origin of food. Ms. Thu said that currently, food additives are sold in the same store with industrial chemicals due to loose regulation. Accordingly she proposed the government amending the two kinds should be sold separately. Speaking at the meeting, Chairman of the NA's Committee for Science, Technology and Environment Phan Xuan Dung highly praised HCMC to make concerted efforts in managing food safety adding that HCMC is one of cities to perform well management of food safety and has applied technological advances in controlling food safety including using telephone software to trace back the origin of pork. Chairman Dung noticed HCMC leaders to pay attention to the use of chemicals in husbandry complaining that the city has not issued severe penalties on violators. He proposed a closer cooperation between HCMC and other provinces to build a food safety chain. As per the municipal People’s Committee from 2011 to November, 2016, the Department of Plan Protection has taken 4,186 vegetable samples from farms to test the pesticide residues and discovered five of them ( or accounting for 0,38 percent ) having the pesticide content exceeding the limit. Yet inspectors detected 38 of 3,007 samples taken from three wholesale markets in districts Hoc Mon, Binh Dien, Thu Duc to have high pesticide content than regulated. The Department of Animal Health asked pig farm to pledge not to use banned substance during breeding. Inspectors reported that in 2011, the rate of farmers using banned chemicals in husbandry was 7.89 percent of total samples, in 2015 it reduced to 5.77 percent and in 2016 no case was discovered.  Inspectors called on slaughter houses to check the origin of poultry. From 2011 to November, 2016, the Department has checked 1,015 batches of pig detecting 99 batches to have residues of chemical. Along with strengthen inspection, HCMC piloted inspection food safety in districts and wards and at first it has gained positive achievement. The City's People’s Committee has approved the project to develop growing safe veggies as per VietGAP in outlying districts since 2011. So far, the city has grown safe veggies in 741.3 hectare with 2,100 participated households. Particularly, HCMC is the first city in the country to have a chain of food safety and has over 400 stores to sell safe agricultural produces. Deputy Head of the Department of Industry and Trade Nguyen Ngoc Hoa said that from December 16, customers can use software in their smart phones to trace back the origin of pork in 346 spots including supermarkets, convenience stores... Pork and poultry now safe in HCMC Pork and poultry meat in HCMC now meet hygiene and quality standards as no banned substances such as Beta-agonist and diarylmethane dye Auramine O have been found in meat samples. A seminar on goods supply and demand in the lead up to the Lunar New Year holiday, or Tet, was organized in HCMC by Thanh Nien newspaper early this week to give updates on food hygiene and safety. The HCMC Animal Health Department said their inspectors had repeatedly taken pork samples for testing. Their most recent test results from October 3 to November 17 showed that 96 samples from 32 pig shipments were negative for Beta-agonist substances that stimulate pig weight gain and help produce more lean meat. The samples came from pigs farmed in HCMC’s neighboring provinces including Dong Nai, Ben Tre, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Binh Thuan, Tien Giang, Long An, Binh Duong, and Binh Phuoc. This is positive as the department said on July 15 that many samples tested positive for banned substances. For poultry, inspectors found no Auramine O, a diarylmethane dye soluble in water which causes cancer, when they combed through 37 slaughterhouses and trading facilities. Phan Xuan Thao, head of the HCMC Animal Health Department, said the legs of those pigs raised with lean-meat stimulant Beta-agonist are often weak, so farmers give them a tranquilliser  in the transport and slaughtering processes. However, many pig shipments have been found to contain no such substances. Nguyen Ngoc Hoa, deputy director of the HCMC Department of Industry and Trade, said consumers could trace the origin of pork at 315 outlets around the city using a mobile phone app starting from December 16. He said the department would carry out plans to check the origin of other products in the future. Water supplier told to cope with climate change Saigon Water Corporation (Sawaco) should apply advanced technology to water treatment given the impact of climate change and saltwater intrusion,  said Vo Thi Dung, deputy secretary of the HCMC Party Committee. Speaking at a ceremony held on December 14 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Thu Duc water plant, Dung said climate change and salination have made water pollution worse in the Dong Nai River where this facility takes crude water, so Sawaco should improve water treatment at Thu Duc and other water plants in HCMC to guarantee the quality of running water. To increase the capacity of water supply in the city, Sawaco will need to call for the private sector to get involved in water treatment and supply projects, and cooperate with partners from developed economies to develop human resources for the sector, Dung added. Thu Duc water plant was put into operation in December 1966 with its initial capacity of 450,000 cubic meters a day. Its currency capacity has soared to 750,000 cubic meters, meeting nearly 40% of clean water demand of city residents. Vietnamese woman saved after hour-long surgery in home’s attic A woman in northern Vietnam in critical condition due to a tubal pregnancy has been saved after an hour-long surgery in her home’s attic. The operation was performed by doctors from the provincial 115 Emergency Center and Thai Binh Maternity Hospital, who responded to a call at 5:00 that day requesting emergency treatment for a woman with a severe stomachache in Thai Binh City, Thai Binh Province. First responders diagnosed the 46-year-old woman’s symptoms as a result of tubal pregnancy, a pregnancy complication in which the embryo attaches outside the uterus. Medics deemed the woman’s condition too critical for transport and quickly requested backup from Thai Binh Maternity Hospital for an on-site surgery. Since the patient lived in a nine-square-meter attic on the third floor of a cramped boarding house with little furniture, the surgical team employed a mobile stretcher as the operation table and a suspended desk lamp as the surgical lighthead. Medical students living in the same boarding house were also asked to help the operation by running small errands. After nearly an hour of intense work, doctors were able to save the patient from her life-threatening condition and she was subsequently transported to Thai Binh Maternity Hospital for post-surgery recovery. According to surgeons Nguyen Duy Quang and Vu Manh Cuong, three liters of clotted blood were removed from the patient’s abdomen during the operation and 1.5 liters of blood were transfused into her body. Medical students in the woman’s boarding house were praised for realizing the patient’s high risk of circulatory collapse and not allowing her to be transported to the hospital by taxi after calling the emergency response team. Exhibition reflects thriving sculpture scene Mixed media sculptures of various materials and dimensions are on display by emerging artists based in Hanoi and HCM City. Entitled "Hanoi–Saigon", the exhibition brings together 28 sculptors and 56 of their works, the biggest such display since the project was launched in 2010. The sculpture series Hanoi–Saigon (or Saigon-Hanoi, based on the exhibition venue) takes place every two years, alternating between the two cities. Besides introducing the newest or never-displayed artworks, the exhibition enables sculptors to share opportunities and career directions, promote their creations and discover new faces on the country’s growing sculpture scene. The initiative was meant to build up and develop a new community spirit in sculpture as well as to bring the medium closer to the public. Therefore, in addition to the exhibitions in the two cities, the group also displays works in spaces more accessible to young people, especially those studying or working in the field of culture and arts. The sculptors at this year’s exhibition span several generations: some were born in the 1940s, like Ca Le Thang and in the 1950s like Dao Chau Hai, while others were born in the 1970s, like Khong Do Tuyen and Le Lang Luong, and even at the end of 1980s, like Thai Nhat Minh. This, together with the difference characteristics of the artists and their works provides the public with richness and diversity in creative trends and attitudes, remarked Vu Huy Thong of the Vietnam University of Fine Arts Research Institute It is the first time the exhibition welcomes a young Vietnamese artist studying and living in the US, Le Hoai Nam, 30. He had his first ever solo exhibition in Hanoi in 2011. The diversity in dimension and materials, such as wood, welded iron, stainless steel, bronze and mixed media will help the public see the qualifications, professional courage and aesthetic experiences of each sculptor and of contemporary Vietnamese sculpture.  “The artists presented in this exhibition are representatives of Vietnamese sculpture in recent years,” said Thong. On the sidelines of the exhibition, a talk on "Sculpture with Space and Architecture" was held on December 15, moderated by art researcher Thong. Dao Thi Hai, a third-year student at Hanoi Architectural University, finds the exhibition and the talk useful for her studies. “Through the exhibition, I have a chance to contemplate many artworks created with different materials and styles,” she said. “Many of them are in a medium and small size suitable for interior decoration.” Hai said the work Dem(The Night) by Nguyen Duy Manh is the most impressive. “Though I don’t think I really understand the artist’s philosophy, I still like this artwork. I feel the loneliness of a person who tries to solve his/her own problem but actually spreads a net surrounding him/herself.” The exhibition will run until December 22 at Hanoi Architecture University, Nguyen Trai street, Hanoi. Conference reviews reform-era defence achievements, lessons Military and defence achievements obtained during 30 years of renovation have significantly contributed to heightening Vietnam’s position and role on the international stage, heard a Defence Ministry’s conference in Hanoi on December 16. The renovation policy adopted at the sixth Party Congress in December 1986 aimed to reform the country comprehensively, including the military and defence areas. Senior Lieutenant General Luong Cuong, Chairman of the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People’s Army, underscored that the Party leadership over the military is an immutable principle, which ensures that the army stays firm in proper political-military orientations to accomplish successfully all assignments of the Party and State. The Party’s leadership over the military is absolute, comprehensive and direct in all fields, reflecting the close relations between the Party and the army, Cuong, who is also Secretary of the Party Central Committee, said. Meanwhile, Lieutenant General Le Chiem, Deputy Defence Minister, said that over the past 30 years implementing the nation-building and defence tasks, defence areas in provinces and cities have been strengthened. The people-based defence has been developed with close association with the socio-economic development to support the national construction and defence. The people’s armed forces, especially the Vietnam People’s Army, have become more elite and modern with strong performance, contributing to firmly safeguarding independence, sovereignty, national unity and territorial integrity, and maintaining a peaceful and stable environment for the country to thrive, he noted. Participants at the conference also clarified lessons withdrawn during the 30-year renovation that are applicable to the building of military and defence reinforcement. According to Associate Prof. Dr. Dinh Quang Hai from the Institute of History Study, said that the integration of economic development and defence is an effective policy to develop the country and reinforce the military in peace time. He stressed the need to strengthen the national unity bloc and the relationship between the Party and people and bolster the people’s trust in the Party and State. With his practical experience in the building and operation of the Military Zone 2 in the reform period, Major General Pham Duc Duyen, Vice Political Commissar of the Military Zone 2 held that it is crucial to focus on strengthening the leadership and direction over the building of strong defence areas in each zone while fostering the coordination among forces, sectors and localities during the implementation of military and defence tasks. He also underscored the importance of building pure and strong Party organisations at all levels to enhance political firmness in military zones.- Seminar seeks ways to support Vietnamese guest workers A seminar took place in Hanoi on December 16 focusing on issues relating to safety for Vietnamese guest workers and the role of local trade unions in supporting and protecting the workers.   The event, co-organised the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) and the Asia Fund, discussed measures to help those people who sought to work abroad be aware of safe working environment and to support re-employment efforts on their return.  Chief Representative of the Asia Fund in Vietnam Michael DiGreogorio said the Vietnamese Government’s policy on labour export will play an increasingly important role for the country’s development, especially when the country joined bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements.  However, he noted that Vietnamese guest workers are encountering risks of labour exploitation and even human trafficking due to their limited knowledge on suitable jobs they could work when returning home.  The situation requires the Government and relevant agencies to take specific policies and solutions in order to ensure rights and legitimate interests of the contracted workers, participants stressed.  In recent years, the VGCL’s chapters and relevant agencies have exerted efforts to support contracted guest workers, significantly contributing to addressing employment issue and helping many local labourers escape from poverty.  Up to 80,000 to 90,000 Vietnamese workers have been sent to work abroad every year since 2007. The workers were estimated to send over 2 billion USD to their families each year. The situation shows that Vietnamese labourers abroad are making remarkable contributions to the country’s socio-economic development.  The VGCL is also implementing a study project funded by the Asia Fund, with the aim of protecting the rights of Vietnamese guest workers. HCM City targets power saving up to 2.5 percent by 2020 Ho Chi Minh City has set a target of saving 2 - 2.5 percent of energy consumption per year between now and 2020, with a view to protecting the environment. The target is meant to achieve an annual average reduction of 220,000 – 250,000 tonnes of CO2. To that end, the city will use high-performance equipment and energy-efficient, advanced technologies, while gradually replacing low-performance equipment and removing outdated technology-used devices.  The city aims that intensive energy-consuming industries will save at least 10 percent of their energy consumption and around 10 percent of local businesses will apply an energy-management system meeting the ISO 50001 by 2020. Efforts will be made to raise the awareness of energy-saving at all levels, and among sectors, communities. A project worth one billion VND (49,000 USD) is being carried out to install high-performance lighting equipment at all public locations from now up to 2020.  All construction material producers will be required to comply with the municipal Department of Science and Technology’s environmental standards for green construction materials. Currently, there are 179 construction material producers in the city, including 158 firms and 21 family facilities. According to Le Van Khoa, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, the city will launch relevant action plans and programmes to enhance supervision of the environmentally - unfriendly investment projects. Communication work will be strengthened to raise public awareness about energy-saving, gradually expand the use of high-performance equipment, replacement of low-performance equipment and promote energy conservation in industrial production, Khoa said. The city is working with the Japan International Cooperation Agency to set up a well - equipped centre for training the staff involved in energy management. The facility is expected to supply a skilled human resource for the key energy-consuming businesses to help them save energy. This year, the city is expected to consume between 21,400 and 21,600 million kWh, a rise of 7-8 percent over 2015, according to EVN HCM City. Dak Lak aims to bring down poor household rate The Central Highlands province of Dak Lak aims to cut the poor household rate by 2.5 – 3 percent per year by 2020, said Pham Ngoc Nghi, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee. It targets to reduce the rate by from 4 – 4.5 percent per year in the ethnic minority groups while improve livelihood and living conditions and raising the income of the poor households by 1.9 times over 2015’s level. Policies on poverty reduction have been comprehensively implemented, facilitating access to preferential credit packages and social policies for over 250,000 poor and near-poor households and others. The locality has encouraged the involvement of local social organisations, such as the Women’s Union, the Farmers Association, and the Youth Union, in vocational training, job placement, and technical assistance. Other supports have been provided for the targeted groups, such as health insurance, education fee, vocational training, and legal consultation. The province is mobilising different resources to help build houses for 10,420 poor households. It has integrated other local poverty reduction policies into the national target program on sustainable reduction of poverty in extremely disadvantaged communes with a view to increasing local people’s engagement in the effort. From 2011 – 2015, the number of poor households in the province fell from 81,053 to 25,322, a drop of 2.96 percent on annual average, representing 98.67 percent of its plan. The number of poverty-ridden ethnic minority households fell from over 46,000 to over 16,000, an annual average decrease of 5.39 percent. The number of near-poor households reduced by over 8,000, or 8.59 percent to 3.73 percent, according to Nghi. Dissemination result of 2015 national internal migration survey   The national workshop on the results of the 2015 national internal migration survey was held in Hanoi on 16, December. Vietnam has been undergone a significant transition over the last three decades. Over the last five years, 13.6 percent of the population of Vietnam are migrants. Migrants aged 15 – 59 account for 17.3 percent of which, 19.7 percent are urban migrants, 13.4 are rural.  Approximately 19.7 percent of the urban population are migrants whereas this proportion for rural population is only 13.4 percent. The Southeast region has the highest proportion on the result at 29.3 percent. These key findings were disseminated at the national workshop on the results of the 2015 national internal migration survey, held in Hanoi by the General Statistics Office (GSO) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Vietnam. According to the final result, female migrants make up 17.7 percent of the female population aged 15 – 59. This figure for male migrants is 16.8 percent. The percentage of females among all migrants aged 15 – 59 is 52.4 percent, which confirms the findings on “feminization of migrant” noted in the 2004 survey. The data also shows that a higher percentage of migrants compared to non-migrants have professional or technical qualification (31.7 percent versus 24.5 percent). Especially, the percentage of migrants who have education at college/university level or higher is 23.1 percent while this figure for non-migrants stands at 17.4 percent. These differences are partly due to the impact of the younger age structure of the migrant population compared to the non-migrant population. In fact, many young persons migrate in order to access higher educational institutions which are overwhelmingly located in urban areas. dissemination result of 2015 national internal migration survey hinh 1 More than 30 percent of migrants sent earnings back to their families within 12 months prior to the survey, with female migrants slightly more likely to remit than were male migrants (30.8 percent versus 29.2 percent).  Although female migrants are more likely than male to send remittances, the total amount of remittance sent by male migrants is higher than that of female. The Southeast, the Red River Delta and Ho Chi Minh City have the highest levels of migrants sending remittances. According to the survey data, of all difficulties faced by migrants, housing is most often mentioned. Of those reporting difficulties, 42.6 percent of migrants report that they have housing problems. Migrants are more likely to seek support from family members, relatives and friends, rather than the local authorities, organizations and unions in destination areas. Mr. Nguyen Bich Lam, GSO General Director said: “This survey aimed to collect data information about internal migrant at national level and socio-economics regions, and in the two largest cities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City for developing socio-economic development policies, as well as policies and programmes for migrants and providing information to other in-depth survey about migration in Vietnam”. Review of Community-based HIV Testing and Counseling after one year implementation HIV experts and policy leaders gathered at a technical workshop to disseminate key achievements of HIV lay and self-testing in Hanoi on December 16. These HIV testing services were piloted by the Vietnam Administration for AIDS Control (VAAC), the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Healthy Markets project, and has been implemented by PATH, and WHO in six provinces namely Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Dien Bien, Nghe An, ThanhHoa and Thai Nguyen since August 2015. This workshop also aimed at disseminating WHO guidelines on HIV self-testing and partner notification and discussing next steps for HIV lay and self-testing in Viet Nam. Since October 2015, the Healthy Markets project has collaborated with Provincial AIDS Committees to train 235 lay providers—people without a formal medical education—to offer quality HIV testing using a single rapid diagnostic test kit. The government of Viet Nam has committed to the global 90-90-90 targets towards ending the HIV epidemic. Although Vietnam has seen a lot of people newly diagnosed of an HIV infection over recent years, there is a concerningly low annual uptake of HIV testing among key populations. Global experience has demonstrated that community-based HIV testing models are successful in increasing testing uptake. 2015 consolidated WHO guidelines on HIV testing services included a new and strong recommendation to permit trained lay providers to provide HIV testing services, noting the safety and effectiveness of this approach. It is recognized that testing services offered by people in the community who are trusted by their peers can improve the uptake of HIV testing among at risk populations. Flooding occurs in lowland areas in Huế Almost all lowland areas in Thừa Thiên-Huế Province were flooded yesterday due to non-stop heavy rainfall since early this week and the obligatory release of water by the local reservoirs. The heavily-flooded areas are in Phong Điền, Hương Trà and Quảng Điền districts, where locals are being forced to travel by boats on the flooded roads. A total of 1,420 houses are inundated with water. Trần Thị Huê, a resident of Quảng Điền’s Quảng Phú Commune, said this is the first time in the last 10 years that floodwater engulfed her home. Residents are, however, safe thanks to preparations that were underway since Tuesday. According to Phan Thanh Hùng of the province’s Centre for Flood and Storm Prevention and Rescuing, flooding has also occurred in Huế City and Phú Lộc District, with the water at an average height of 0.2m to 0.5m on the roads. Authorities of the communes and wards with flooded roads have erected signboards to inform commuters of the strong currents. All schools have been ordered to shut down yesterday. White collar employees in public agencies were also dismissed earlier from work this afternoon. Meanwhile, a 40-year-old man in Hương Trà District reportedly drowned when he was driving his buffalo home. The rescue centre has alerted people to the risk of landslides in prone areas and to the danger of travelling by boat during strong currents. Water level in the province’s large rivers – Hương, Bồ and Ô Lâu – continues to rise, with reservoirs releasing water at an average volume of 1,000cu.m. per second. Initiative makes books accessible in VN’s rural areas More than 400,000 readers in rural areas can access books and a system of over 9,000 civil libraries has been built in 26 provinces in Việt Nam since 2007. This is thanks to the “Books for rural areas of Việt Nam” programme, heard a ceremony held in Hà Nội this morning. Organised by the Việt Nam National Commission for UNESCO and Ministry of Education and Training, the event honours individuals and organisations that brought the programme “Book for Rural Areas of Việt Nam” to localities across the country. The programme, implemented by the Center for Knowledge Assistance and Community Development (CKACD), was awarded the 2016 UNESCO Literacy Prize in September, along with four other winners from Thailand, India, Senegal and South Africa. CKACD founder Nguyễn Quang Thạch initiate the library revolution after witnessing a great shortage of books and an undeveloped library system in rural and mountainous areas in Việt Nam. Based on the specific needs of different groups of learners, Thạch designed five main models: clan libraries, parish libraries, classrooms libraries, military officer libraries and community libraries. The programme aims to offer equal education opportunities to all, particularly those in rural areas. It has engaged more than 100,000 people to finance the programme through crowd-funding. At the ceremony, Deputy Minister of Education and Training Phạm Mạnh Hùng said the programme was in line with Việt Nam’s policies in promoting a reading culture, a long-lasting learning society and eliminating illiteracy. Phạm Sanh Châu, secretary general of the Việt Nam National Commission for UNESCO, said the programme highlighted the effective co-operation between State and non-State organisations and the strength of the community. CKACD founder Thạch said for a long time, children in Việt Nam’s rural areas had very few chances to access books. They usually only had access to textbooks and their parents had little awareness on the importance of reading books since they themselves had never read books. “To encourage farmers/workers to create libraries for their children, I usually tell them that books can help them get better jobs and increase income,” Thạch said. “Books which impart knowledge can help people predict and respond to changes around them,” he said. He said with the UNESCO International Literacy prize, this programme, which brought books to rural areas, could be expanded across the country, and further, could be a good model to be applied in other countries.  Japanese experts train Hà Nội doctors on endoscopic ultrasounds Japanese health experts are training around 100 doctors from Hà Nội and the neighbouring provinces to perform endoscopic ultrasounds (EUS) at the Hightech and Digestive Centre in Hà Nội. “The training course will mark a new start for international training programmes in the city in the coming years,” Trần Thị Nhị Hà, deputy director of the city’s health department, said. “It will contribute towards strengthening our professionals’ technological skills and improve investigations and the quality of treatment.” Hà said the programme would help reduce the crowd in hospitals in Hà Nội and the neighbouring areas, while meeting people’s increasing demands for high-quality services and minimising the number of patients going abroad for cancer treatment. The two-day programme will train participants to use EUS and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) techniques for examination of the digestive system and detection of illnesses, especially of early-stage rectal cancer. The Saint Paul Hospital and Asian EUS Group have organised the session, which is the first training course being held at the centre, which opened last month. It will continue to organise training workshops for the city’s doctors. HCM City begins programme to provide information about pork origin in labels The HCM City Department of Industry and Trade yesterday inaugurated a system that enables consumers to check the origin of pork they buy at nearly 350 modern outlets. Managed by the departments of Industry and Trade, and Agriculture and Rural Development, the sub-department of Animal Health and the city’s High Technology Association, it allows consumers to find out the origin of pork from electronic labels stuck on the packaging.   The labels contain all information about the meat, including the animal breeding process, slaughterhouse and markets where it is sold. The sellers taking part in the programme include Co.opmart and Co.opXtra, Co.opFood, SatraFood, Big C, Lotte Mart, Auchan, Aeon-Citimart and Queenland. Đào Hà Trung, chairman of the HCM City High Technology Association, said to get the information about the pork, consumers should download the QR Code decoding application from www.te-food.com to their devices, open the app on their phones and focus the device’s camera on the barcode area on the label to read the results. Alternatively, they can use a device installed near the pork counter to read the information. Nguyễn Ngọc Hòa, the department’s deputy director, said based on the results of the first phase the programme would be expanded to traditional channels later. Phạm Thành Kiên, the department’s director and head of the project, said it is one of several important measures to reduce the amount of unsafe meat. The municipal government expects the programme to be successful and to expand it to cover other essential products in future, he said. If consumers seek to consume more products with clear origin, they would help gradually push unsafe food out of the market, he said. Thanh Hóa win FLC Cup for second time FLC Thanh Hóa won their second FLC Cup football tournament title after beating Hà Nội T&T in the penalty shoot-out on December 15 in Thanh Hóa Province. The two sides finished official time with a 2-2 result. Pape Omar Faye netted twice for Thanh Hóa, while Duy Mạnh and Thành Chung scored for the other team. The final match, therefore, had to be decided on penalties. From the host team, only Lê Quốc Phương missed his chance. From Hà Nội T&T, however, Quang Hải and Văn Biển were both not successful with their kicks. The victory was the first unofficial title for former Champion League winning coach Ljupko Petrovic with his new club. He said some players, especially the strikers, did not put up a good performance in the final, although he was satisfied with the defenders. Thanh Hóa displayed better form and the team deserved the victory.  Service launched to handle administrative paperwork by post Vietnam Post, which runs post offices in Vietnam, has launched a service to help people submit and receive their administrative papers through the postal system, following a decision by the prime minister. Once received, the documents will be transferred by post office staff to the relevant authorities and the results will be sent back to the addresses requested by those who use the service. People can use the service to pay traffic tickets and receive documents for violations of road rules, send driving licence applications and receive licences, dispatch university application documents and receive pension and benefit payments. Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam said at the launching ceremony on December 16 that the move was significant in providing public services in a transparent and convenient manner thanks to Vietnam Post’s wide network of post offices throughout the country. He added that the ministries, agencies and local authorities have made great efforts in administrative reform from reviewing, standardising and publicising more than 124,000 procedures to building a single-window mechanism and public service centres. But people still have to meet public servants in person to deal with many procedures. He urged public agencies to make public administrative services possible by post and asked Vietnam Post and other telecommunications companies to work closely to build a public service portal for the whole administrative system. ROK film festival to entertain Thai Nguyen audiences Audiences in the northern province of Thai Nguyen will be introduced to famous movies from the Republic of Korea (ROK) during a film festival to be held by the Korean Cultural Centre at Beta Cineplex Cinema in the city of Thai Nguyen on December 17-18. There are currently over twenty ROK enterprises operating in Thai Nguyen; however, programmes promoting the ROK’s culture in the province remain modest. Therefore, the two-day festival, which is scheduled to open at 6:30pm on December 17, is expected to advertise the ROK’s culture to Thai Nguyen audiences through the language of cinematography. The films to be screened include “Hope,” the winner of the “Best Film” prize at the 34th Blue Dragon Film Awards; “Miss Granny,” the first cinematographic work in the world to feature eight versions of different languages; and “A Werewolf Boy,” the all-time highest-grossing ROK film. All three selected movies feature the topic of family sentiment and have achieved deep appreciation from experts as well as resounding success regarding both domestic and foreign box office figures. With the touching and humane stories transmitted through the films, it is hoped that Vietnamese audiences will have more sympathy for and get to understand more about the culture and lives of ROK people. Director of the Korean Cultural Centre in Vietnam Lee Dae Joong said he hoped that the festival would be a fresh breeze and contribute to enriching the cultural life of locals in Thai Nguyen. The centre would strive to present Vietnamese audiences with many more ROK movies of high artistic value in the year to come as part of activities to mark 25 years of Vietnam-ROK diplomatic ties, Lee added. New report launched to provide better understanding of gender relations in Vietnam A report entitled “Practices and Data on Women and Men during 2010-2015,” aimed at providing a better understanding of gender relations in Vietnam, was launched by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) and UN Women in Hanoi on December 16. The document presents statistical gender data from surveys conducted between 2010 and 2015 under six themes: population, families, education, health, labour and employment and leadership and management. The report also offers information and data to help provide a better understanding of the current situation of gender relations in Vietnam and about gender inequality in society, from which supporting analysis and projections on the impact of laws, policies and programmes on women and men, ensuring they have equal access to, participation in and benefits from the fruits of the country’s development. This is a product developed during the implementation of a UN Women–funded project on improving capacity on gender equality for MOLISA’s staff between 2012 and 2016. The results of the five-year implementation of the abovementioned project were also reviewed at the event. Speaking at the ceremony, Pham Ngoc Tien, Director of MOLISA’s Gender Equality Department, affirmed that the UN Women–funded project implemented from November 2012 to December 2016 has made encouraging achievements, helping to improve the capacity of MOLISA’s staff to implement, evaluate and supervise the implementation of the National Strategy and Programme on Gender Equality. He added that the project also contributed to facilitating the National Strategy on Gender Equality for 2011-2020 and the National Programme on Gender Equality for the 2011-2015 period. Shoko Ishikawa, UN Women Representative in Vietnam, praises efforts in gender mainstreaming and capacity-building on gender equality in the country. (Credit: NDO) Praising efforts in gender mainstreaming and capacity-building on gender equality and gender mainstreaming, Shoko Ishikawa, UN Women Representative in Vietnam said that amidst challenges and difficulties, the project has launched and built practices on what the government could do to enhance national capacities at the local and national levels on gender equality and the empowerment of women, as well as strengthening coordination mechanisms among stakeholders for gender equality activities. She stressed that capacity-building on gender equality and gender mainstreaming should not only be MOLISA’s duty, but that of all Government agencies, suggesting that the Government should continue to invest in gender equality and closely work with concerned parties, including civil society and the private sector, to ensure that women, girls, men and boys can fully enjoy their rights. On the occasion of the release of the report, the ministry also awarded the “For the Cause of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs” medal to UN Women. The two sides pledged to continue to support each other in promoting gender equality in Vietnam to ensure a fair society and substantive equality for women and men. Chinese FM sympathises with Vietnamese flood victims China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has sent a message of sympathy to Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh on heavy losses caused by floods in central localities. In his message dated December 16, the Chinese official expressed his deep sympathy to the people living in flood-hit areas and said he believed they will shortly resume their routine production and daily activities under the leadership of the Vietnamese Government. On an online meeting on December 17, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc have instructed ministries, sectors and central localities to mobilised all forces and resources to ensure safety and food for residents in flood-hit areas and minimising losses in human lives and property. Official statistics show that heavy rain and flood in the central region from December 12-16 left 15 deaths and missing, destroying more than 130 houses, inundating nearly 112,000 others. Over 10,000 hectares of rice fields and many infrastructure and transportation works were damaged. JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay resort put into service The five-star JW Marriot Phu Quoc Emerald Bay resort was officially opened on December 17 in Phu Quoc island district in the southern coastal province of Kien Giang. The resort, with architecture inspired from the Lamarck University, on Khem beach in An Thoi town, the southern side of the island, has 244 rooms, suites, apartments, and villas. Dang Minh Truong, Vice President and General Director of the Sun Group, said this is the first project going into operation among projects invested by the company in the southern part of the island district. Other projects include Premier Village Phu Quoc Resort, Premier Residences Phu Quoc Emerald Bay, a cable-car system and a theme park on Hon Thom island. Truong hoped that the JW Marriot Phu Quoc Emerald Bay resort will support the development of tourism in Phu Quoc in particular and Kien Giang in general, turning the island district into an appealing destination in the region and the world in the near future. Binh Duong puts 8 new bus routes into use Deputy Director of Binh Duong Department of Transport Nguyen Chi Hieu yesterday said the province has just put into service more 8 new bus routes meeting the traveling demand of local residents. Accordingly, five new bus routes will operate from Becamex to the center city of Binh Duong including 39, 51, 52, 53, 68 and three city buses will include routes of 8, 10 and 11. Binh Duong province has invested to buy 15 new buses running on compressed natural gas –CNG, free Wifi with a cost of VND 5,000 to 10,000 per ticket. New bus routes are part of the provincial public transport development strategy which carried out from end 2014. To date, Binh Duong has around 30 bus routes, of these, 5 trans-provincial bus routes and one international provincial buses to Phnom Penh (Cambodia) serving 20 percent of the traveling demand for local residents. Southern central provinces to continue experiencing torrential rain & floods Director of the National Center for Hydro-Meteorology Forecasting (NCHMF) Hoang Duc Cuong said heavy rains will continue occuring in the central provinces from Quang Nam to Ninh Thuan and the rainfall level will be from 100 to 150 mm while floods have been happening in the central provinces since December 16. Worse, from December 23 to 24, low pressure will appear in the East of the Philippines and then heading toward the East Sea, causing flooding in the southern central provinces. It is estimated that the rainfall level will reach at 200 to 300mm and the region from Quang Tri to Khanh Hoa will be suffered by new floods. However, floods are forecast not to last, added Cuong. The NCHMF also said for over last month, 9 central provinces were suffered by torrential rain and floods due to tropical low pressure and cold front mostly. Mr. Tran Quang Hoai, the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster said, since October to December, torrential rain and floods have killed 111 people, 121 injured and over 300 houses collasped; nearly 43,000 ha of rice were inundated with water. The damages estimated to reach over VND 8,5trillion in 9 central provinces. Mr. Hoai said that total damages by heavy rain and floods nationwide since the beginning of this year to date have reached VND 37,650 billion equal to US$ 1.7billion. Over 2,000 athletes join marathon This morning, a marathon and military decathlon for students and armed forces in HCMC to celebrate the 72th People’s Army’s anniversary (December 22, 1944-December 22, 2016) organized on Hoang Sa-Truong Sa streets in Phu Nhuan District, HCMC. Over 2,000 athletes from HCMC High Command , Firefighting Polices, officers in 24 districts ad 22 schools citywide took part in the event. This is annual sport activity creating condition for athletes to train their physical strength, exchange and aiming aslo to promote the city’s civilized, urban lifestyle, building and protecting environment. VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri/VNE