Social News 18/4

US servicemen’s remains repatriated

A ceremony was held at Da Nang International Airport in the central city of Da Nang on April 16 to repatriate remains of US servicemen who died during the war in Vietnam.

The ceremony was attended by representatives from the Board of Directors of Vietnam Office for Seeking Missing Personnel (VNOSMP), Ms. Rena Bitters, the US Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City, and representatives of the US Defense Attache Office, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), and the US MIA Office in Hanoi.

Two boxes of remains from the 118th Joint Field Activities from February to April, 2015 were handed over to the US side.

The remains had been jointly reviewed and concluded by Vietnam and US forensic specialists that they might be associated with the US servicemen missing during the war in Vietnam and were recommended to bring to Hawaii, the United States, for further review.

Addressing at the Repatriation Ceremony, the US Government representative expressed deep gratitude and appreciation for the steadfast humanitarian policy, good-will and the increasingly efficient cooperation of the Vietnam Government and people.

The search for the remains of US servicemen missing during the war in Vietnam is humanitarian cooperation between the Governments of Vietnam and the US.

This is the 134 th hand-over of American missing servicemen’s remains since 1973.-

Three fishermen rescued off Can Gio

The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre Zone 3 on Thursday morning handed over three fishermen rescued from a boat to their families and the authorities in the southern Tien Giang province.

Earlier, the centre received a call for help from the owner of the BV 0058 TS fishing boat at about 5pm on Wednesday. Khanh, the boat’s owner from Tien Giang Province, said the boat was drifting in Ho Chi Minh City’s Can Gio coastal area as its engine had broken down due to strong winds.

The centre asked the HCM Coastal Radio Station to broadcast an alert to all ships in that area to assist the people on the boat. It also dispatched the SAR 272 ship stationed near the area to rescue the people and inform all relevant agencies for coordination.

At 7pm on the same day, SAR 272 reached the boat and rescued three fishermen. They were transported to Vung Tau City and given accommodation till they could be taken home.

Also on Thursday, the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre Zone 3 said 11 other fishermen from Binh Dinh province were rescued from the BD 96427 fishing boat, 120 nautical miles off Con Dao Island, which had been hit by a cargo ship at 11am on Wednesday. The fishing boat sank, and the fishermen climbed into a coracle that drifted in the sea after a distress call was made. At 7am on Thursday, they were rescued by an unregistered Nhan Nghia boat that was passing by. The 11 fishermen are expected to be transported to Ben Tre province on Friday.

Police seize fake medicinal oil in Hue

Police in the central Thua Thien–Hue Province have discovered 17,000 bottles of fake melaleuca oil, a traditional medicine registered by the province’s Phu Loc District.

Police made an unexpected visit to the stall of Nguyen Thi My Hoa, a resident of the district who stored the bottles for sale. She told the police the liquid was not melaleuca oil and had been bought from a wholesale market.

There is a traditional method of extracting the oil from melaleuca. The oil has a pleasant smell and has been used by the local people for centuries to cure simple health symptoms.

The district is home to hundreds of facilities that produce the oil, which has been registered under a common trademark for the community there. Several stalls, located along the section of National Highway 1A that runs through the district, sell the oil to commuters.

Police have seized the fake oil and are expanding the investigation to find the suppliers of the fake oil.

106 km coastal road inaugurated in Ninh Thuan province

The southern central province of Ninh Thuan inaugurated a 106-kilometre road running along its coast on April 16, said to be of local and regional importance.

The road, built at a cost of over 4.65 trillion VND (221.43 million USD), begins at an intersection with the National Road 1A in Cong Hai commune of Thuan Bac district and ends at a similar intersection in Ca Na commune of Thuan Nam district.

It is contiguous to Khanh Hoa province to the north and Binh Thuan province to the south.

To prepare for the construction, more than 1,020 households were removed and 186.96 hectares of land were reclaimed.

Chairman of the Ninh Thuan People’s Committee Luu Xuan Vinh said the artery connects provincial roads with National Road 1A, forming an uninterrupted transport system.

It will also improve regional connectivity and the utilisation of marine resources while helping facilitate the construction of a nuclear power plant in the province and ensure defence-security, he added.

US health experts share recovery experience

Health experts from the United States Recovery Association, Universities and Hospitals in the US shared their experiences in recovery at a conference held in Da Nang City on April 16.

In their reports, the US experts mentioned a wide range of subjects from treatment of serious bacterial contamination and clot disorders to brain bleeds.

They previously organised a three-day clinic to train Vietnamese doctors and nurses in Bach Mai Hospital, Da Nang Hospital and Da Nang’s C Hospital on ultrasounds in active recovery, basic recovery, child recovery and nursing in recovery.

The recovery field has made significant progress in Vietnam and has helped saved many gravely ill patients.

New-style cooperatives deemed critical to agricultural development

A forum held in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on April 15 urged for more ambition and innovation in the city’s bid to create new-style cooperatives in the face of current integration and development.

Agricultural cooperatives now play a role more important than ever amid the rapid pace of development, said Vice Chairman of the Steering Committee for the Southwestern Region Nguyen Phong Quang.

He highlighted the need to adapt existing cooperatives to current conditions.

Once built and operated successfully, new-style cooperatives, especially those for the Mekong Delta’s key staples of rice, aquatic products and fruits, will boost profitability and increase incomes for farmers, he added.

The Vietnam Cooperative Alliance said it plans to restructure existing agricultural cooperatives and pilot five new-style facilities in the region from now to 2016. Between 2017 and 2020, regional localities need to apply the model to 30 cooperatives.

The Mekong Delta, encompassing 12 provinces and one centrally-run city, has a farmland area of around 3.21 million hectares. It produces 70 percent of fruit, 52 percent of aquatic products, and more than 90 percent of exported rice for Vietnam every year.

By the end of 2014, the region housed 1,928 agricultural cooperatives with 531,299 households registered as members.

Though the cooperative number is fewer than in other regions, Mekong Delta cooperatives work more efficiently, according to Fatherland Front President Nguyen Thien Nhan.

However, he pointed out hindrances to improved performance, such as the poor capacity of cooperative leaders and the shortage of State assistance.

At the forum, representatives from provincial authorities and cooperatives also underlined existing advantages and disadvantages of cooperative activities and proposed policies facilitating the development of agricultural cooperatives in the future.

Chinese doctor almost kills Vietnamese woman

A private clinic in Ho Chi Minh City has suspended a Chinese doctor who allegedly almost killed a woman with an unauthorized procedure to terminate her 17-week pregnancy.

Lian Xing Fang, 57, was working with a valid license and work permit at the International General Clinic on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street in District 1, which has not been licensed to provide abortion services.

The clinic has tried to shrug off its responsibility, saying she performed the procedure without consulting the management board.

As of April 15 the patient, only identified as M., was still staying at the Tu Du Hospital nearby for the fourth day of treatment for internal bleeding and uterine perforation.

M., a 48-year-old married woman and mother of two, said she had signs of menopause the past two years and did not think that she could be pregnant again.

When her belly showed early this month, she went to a general hospital and found out she had been pregnant for four months.

Considering herself too old to have a baby, she asked for an abortion but the hospital refused, referring her to Tu Du, a leading obstetrics hospital in the city.

But doctors at Tu Du also turned her down, saying the fetus had grown big and it would be very risky.

Vietnam, which records the highest abortion rate in Southeast Asia and among the highest worldwide, does not specifically ban abortion but medical health protocols limit facilities from providing certain kinds of abortion at certain ages of the pregnancy.

M. went home and shared her problem with a neighbor, who introduced her to the private clinic.

She came on April 10 and Lian agreed to provide the service immediately.

VFF President looks to strengthen ties with journalism assoc

The Vietnam Journalists’ Association (VJA) set a 2015-2020 vision to develop a contingent of qualified and responsible journalists to meet present day demands, as announced to President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan in Hanoi on April 16.

Nhan praised the effective bilateral cooperation in raising public awareness of the VFF’s mission and involving members of the public in social activities.

The VFF considers the VJA a significant member, he said, adding that VJA and its chapters should continue popularising the VFF’s role in monitoring and supervising social activities, successes in building new-style rural areas and poverty reduction, and contributions from overseas Vietnamese and intellectuals to national development.

He asked the VJA to help VFF oversee the implementation of the media development policy as well as Party and State policies.

As a political-social-professional organisation under the Party leadership, the VJA has exercised its function to protect the legitimate rights and interests of journalists and train them in professional skills and ethics over the past 65 years.

Its annual National Press Award has seen rising numbers of entries and reporters years over years.

The VJA chapters also called on its members to respond to campaigns “The whole nation unites to build cultural life in residential areas”, “Day for the Poor”, and “Vietnamese prioritise Vietnamese goods”.

As of late 2014, the VJA had recorded 63 municipal and provincial chapters with over 22,000 members.

It plans to hold the 10th Congress for the 2015-2020 tenure in August.

Enhanced capacity for socio-economic development

A workshop on the Capacity Development Technical Assistance project (CDTA 7725-VIE) preparing socio-economic development plans was held in Hanoi on April 16.

The project covers public investment, database and information management, and management agency capacity improvement based on the 2011-2015 socio-economic achievements.

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Dao Quang Thu said the project also introduces a handbook guiding the application of appraisal criteria and the ranking of public investment projects on a macro scale.

Participants talked preparations for public investment in-depth and reviewed several successful models in investment, healthcare, education, tourism and the environment.

They also looked into how to increase the involvement of the private sector in State-funded projects and improve their overall quality.

The event was co-hosted by the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Asian Development Bank.-

New Year wishes to Khmer ethnics in Can Tho

President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan has extended his best wishes to the Khmer community in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on the occasion of their traditional Chol Chnam Thmay (New Year) festival.

Visiting the city’s Solidarity Association of Patriotic Buddhist Monks and Muni Rangsey pagoda on April 16, Nhan presented gifts to monks and Khmer people.

He affirmed the State’s policy to help residents enjoy free and fair religious practices, calling for funds to build religious facilities like pagodas and academies.

Most Venerable Dao Nhu, a member of the VFF Central Committee and President of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha – Can Tho branch, said that in recent years, a number of Party and State policies have been carried out in the locality to help the Khmer ethnic group escape from poverty and improve their living conditions.

Can Tho is now home to 5,119 Khmer families, mainly in Thoi Lai and O Mon districts. By late 2014, the city lowered the poverty rate among poor Khmer households under two digits to 8.65 percent for the first time.

Chol Chnam Thmay, taking place from April 14-16 this year, is one of the most important festivals for the Khmer people. It lasts three days (four days in leap years) and is traditionally held in a pagoda.

Recycling program collecting used, defective electronic products in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City

Consumers in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi will have a chance to dispose of their used or defective electrical and electronic products at places designated by the organizer of a foreign-funded program, launched in Vietnam last week, from now till the end of June and July, respectively.

Those in the southern city will have a similar opportunity on April 19 when joining the Ho Chi Minh City Recycling Day at the Labor Culture Palace in District 1, as representatives from Vietnam Recycles, a free take-back program for such used or defective products with an aim to ensure their safe and environmentally sound recycling, will also be there to collect those pieces of equipment for recycling.

The Vietnam Recycles, run by Vietnam Recycling Platform (VRP), is also collecting such equipment at 15 designated collection points throughout Ho Chi Minh City from now until Friday.

The collection points include the Department of Natural Resources and Environment in District 1, the People’s Committee of Binh Trung Dong Ward in District 2, the People’s Committee of Ward 9 in District 3, the People’s Committee of Ward 12 in District 4, the People’s Committee of Tan Thuan Dong Ward in District 7, and the People’s Committee of Ward 17 in Phu Nhuan District.

The Vietnam Recycles, a new initiative for the recycling of e-waste launched by the VRP last Monday, supports both producers and consumers and is fully compliant with a recent decision by the Vietnamese prime minister on the collection and treatment of discarded products which came into effect January 1, 2015, according to a press release of the program.

All used or defective electrical and electronic equipment, returned through the e-waste recycling program, are safely collected and professionally processed to achieve maximum recovery of natural resources and ensure highly professional waste treatment with the objectives of reducing electronic waste, increasing recycling and managing the environmental, health and safety impact of products at the end of their life cycles, according to the press release.

The program has provided free take-back and recycling services for governmental agencies, institutions, and enterprise customers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City since January 2015.

According to Vietnam’s Institute for Environmental Science and Technology, the volume of e-waste in Vietnam is increasing rapidly due to the sharp increase in product demand. However, the level of public awareness regarding waste electrical and electronic equipment is very limited.

“We are thrilled to bring our expertise and techniques to build new standards in collection, logistics and recycling for Vietnam. The key for this program’s success lays in the strong collaboration and support from government, organizations and consumers,” said Patrick Wiedemann, CEO of Reverse Logistics Group, the VRP’s general contractor.

Vietnam, UK bolster cooperation in infectious disease research

Vietnamese and British scientists discussed joint research on infectious diseases when meeting at a workshop on cooperation between Vietnam and the UK on the diseases held in Hanoi on April 14.

Efforts to promote collaboration in science and technology will be carried out within three years as backed by the two nations, said Le Thanh Binh, Deputy Chief of the Department of International Cooperation under the Ministry of Science and Technology.

He said that the two pledged to build five joint research studies with great societal impact.

First Secretary of the British Embassy in Vietnam Andrew Holt affirmed that with its significant expertise in infectious diseases, the UK is willing to share experience with Vietnamese specialists and researchers.

Louisa Rahemtulla from the British Embassy in Hanoi underscored that the workshop is an opportunity to bring international experience to Vietnam and promote the two countries’ integration.

She added that infectious diseases are a major concern for both parties, elevating the need to discuss ways to support each other while conducting relevant research studies.-

2014 medical campaigns yield positive results

Blood donation and humanitarian medical examination and treatment campaigns in 2014 brought about significant results and benefitted a substantial number of people, heard a conference reviewing the drives in Hanoi on April 14.

A report at the event revealed that more than 1 million blood units were donated in 2014, equivalent to only 1.17 percent of the population giving blood but meeting 58 percent of the demand. Over 96 percent of the units were donated outside of emergency scenarios.

Communication activities and donation events were stepped up such as the Red Spring Festival after the Lunar New Year holiday and the Red Journey in summer, helping minimise the blood shortages frequently experienced during these time periods.

Meanwhile, nearly 2,600 check-ups were made during the medical examination and treatment campaign which took place from September 1, 2014 to February 15 this year.

More than 1.15 million low-income people in rural areas received free medications and 90,000 others received health advice. About 272,000 gifts were presented to the underprivileged during this time, the report said.

Vice State President Nguyen Thi Doan spoke highly of the campaigns’ effectiveness and asked relevant agencies and organisations to continue promoting these activities.

She also called upon people from all demographics to actively engage in blood donation and contribute to humanitarian activities.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health needs to complete the draft Law on blood and stem cell donation promptly for submission to the National Assembly in 2016. Once in effect, it will serve as the legal framework for blood donation and humanitarian check-ups and treatment, she added.

High risk of dengue fever outbreak

There is a high risk of an outbreak of the mosquito-borne dengue fever in 2015 because of strong increases in infection cases and abnormal weather patterns in the early months of 2015.

The Ministry of Health’s General Department of Preventive Medicine made the statement at a conference on the dengue fever situation in 2015 held in HCM City on April 14.

The Pasteur Institute in HCM City said the number of dengue fever cases recorded in the City in late 2014 and the early months of 2015 was above the incidence rate in the same period a year ago.

Beside a constantly high rate of dengue virus in the city, the weather has featured some abnormal patterns.

In order to prevent an outbreak, the ministry asked localities to take drastic measures to control the causes of the disease and quarantine infections at industrial parks, schools and residential areas.

Nguyen Thanh Long, Deputy Minister of Health, called on localities to train grassroots health personnel on the diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

Luong Ngoc Khue, Director of the General Department of Preventive Medicine, said the department will work with provincial hospitals to maintain the ‘hot line against the disease at grassroots health centres.

The department will maintain treatment readiness in central, provincial and district hospitals to prepare for complicated cases, Khue said.

According to the department, dengue fever occurs mainly in southern and central provinces with 8,320 cases recorded in the first three months of the year in 40 provinces and cities, six of whom have died.

Conference honours revolutionary contributors

A conference was held in Ho Chi Minh City on April 14 to honour those who made significant contributions to the victory of the Ho Chi Minh campaign in the spring of 1975, liberating the south and reunifying the nation (April 30, 1975).

Addressing the event, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam stressed that the Party, State and people are grateful to the heroes who sacrificed their youth and in some cases their lives for the national revolutionary cause.

He affirmed the immortal value of the resistance war for national independence, peace, happiness, territorial integrity and justice of Vietnamese people.

The Deputy PM asked for unanimity and solidarity from generations of Vietnamese to strengthen the country and bring about prosperity.

In recent years, the Party and State have paid special attention to improving the living conditions of families of martyrs and war invalids.

As many as 8.8 million war invalids, relatives of martyrs and Vietnamese heroic mothers, or nearly 10% of the nation’s population, are benefiting from the State’s social welfare policy.

Almost all revolutionary contributors and their families have been provided with preferential policies in healthcare, housing, education and vocational training.

Red Cross Tet campaign supports those in need

The Vietnam Red Cross Society has revealed that a campaign it ran during the 2015 Lunar New Year (Tet) presented disadvantaged people and victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin with 559 free houses and nearly 2 million gifts worth over US$30 million, and provided 160,000 people with free medical support.

The figures were released at a closing ceremony for the campaign in Hanoi on April 14.

The campaign, named “Tet for the Poor and Agent Orange Victims” has run every year since it was first launched in 1999. To date, it has raised over VND3 trillion (US$138.87 million), assisting 14 million poor and Agent Orange-affected households.

During Tet, the Red Cross also launched a number of additional programmes to assist the poor, including one which raised VND4.7 billion for soldiers and locals living on islands, and the cow bank programme that presented 545 cows worth VND4.36 billion to locals in border areas in eight localities.

During the ceremony, winners of a writing and photo contest themed “Spring of Compassion 2015″ were announced. More than 500 essays and 300 photos were submitted, with the 25 best pieces of writing and the 22 best pictures honoured.

Addressing the Hanoi closing ceremony, President Truong Tan Sang lauded the Vietnam Red Cross Society for its effective humanitarian campaigns. The success also reflects the great consideration society makes for the poor, he said.

He clarified that the Party and State attach much importance to building a society of progress and equality. Poverty reduction, improved social security and care for the poor are long-term tasks, he stated, before calling for even stronger engagement from society.

He also encouraged the administrations at all levels, organisations and overseas Vietnamese groups to join with the Red Cross in charitable activities, thus giving a helping hand to more people.

Sappers blow up 1,500lb war bomb

A 1,500lb Vietnam War bomb has been blown up in central Vietnam after it was discovered by a man who is building a new home.

Le Van Sy said he was digging the foundations of the house in Long Son Commune, Nghe An Province, when he found the 1.7-meter-long bomb buried about 6 meters deep on April 11.

He informed local authorities about the bomb.

Military sappers successfully removed the bomb to an uninhabited area destroyed it on April 14.

VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri

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