Children's hospitals struggle with recent surge in patients

HCM CITY — The number of children with respiratory illnesses, acute diarrhoea and dengue fever has increased sharply in recent days, according to hospitals in HCM City.

The HCM City Paediatrics Hospital No 1's Respiratory Diseases Ward is severely overstretched, having to take in as many as 200-230 inpatients a day while it has just 100 beds.

At the Digestive Ward of HCM City Paediatrics Hospital No 2, many inpatients are suffering from acute diarrhoea.

Environmental pollution as well as unsafe and unhygienic food have increased considerably the risk of diarrhoea in children, according to doctors.

In the first nine days of December, the city had three siblings with acute diarrhoea who contracted cholera, and the eldest one, four years old, died of the disease.

The siblings live along a canal in Binh Chanh District's Minh Huong Commune. The water in the canal is heavily polluted and contaminated with all household waste being dumped directly into it.

Lai Phuoc Hoa, director of the Binh Chanh District Preventive Health Centre, said it was matter of concern that the water in the canal contained the cholera bacteria, exposing all residents in the neighbourhood to the disease.

The area is home to about 100 families who make a living doing menial jobs.

The HCM City Health Department has ordered relevant agencies to implement measures to control further outbreaks of cholera. It has urged district authorities to strengthen awareness campaigns about the disease, including prevention measures like using boiled water, eating well cooked food and washing hands with soap and water before eating.

Meanwhile, the Pasteur Institute has noted that the city is now having about 500 patients with dengue fever every week, up 50 per cent compared to the same period last year.

In this case, it is not just children, but the number of adults contracting the mosquito-borne disease also that is on the increase.

On December 6, a first-grade student of the Chuong Duong Primary School in District 1 died of dengue fever, said Nguyen Van The, director of the District 1 Preventive Health Centre. — VNS

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Hazardous dye found in sauce

HA NOI — Cancer-causing Rhodamine B has been found in chilli sauce samples taken from Ha Noi-based Tuan Thanh Investment and Trade Joint Stock Company, the city's Environment Police Department reported on Monday.

The Health Ministry's National Institute for Food Control detected traces of the dye in samples taken at the plant last month.

Environmental police, inspectors from the city's Natural Resources and Environment Department and Hoan Kiem District police raided the company after receiving complains by residents in the district's Cua Dong Ward about pollution from the company.

Chu Van Tuan, a director at the company, told police the factory produced about 150 litres of chilli sauce each day and that all ingredients, such as fresh and dried chilli and preservatives were bought in the market without proof of origin certificates.

The company was also found to be discharging untreated waste water into the city's waterways. It did not have a waste treatment facility or permission to discharge waste into the environment.

The factory was also emitting noxious fumes, inspectors said.

The authority is trying to identify the source of the Rhodamine B.

Police seized and destroyed the company's stock of chilli sauce.

Earlier this year, Rhodamine B was found in dried melon seeds and chilli powder in a number of provinces and cities.

Rhodamine B is used by the textile industry to die cloth and is banned as a food colorant. — VNS

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Study reveals harsh realities for women migrants in HCM City

HCM CITY — Women immigrants in HCM City have faced severe financial and other challenges since the recession began in 2007, according to a study released yesterday by a city-based university.

Dr. Nguyen Thi Hong Xoan, a member of the research group from the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, said the study was meant to assess the impact of the economic recession on women, especially immigrants to the city during the period.

It polled 400 women in Districts Nha Be, Thu Duc, Binh Thanh, and 5, half of them immigrants aged between 21 and 40.

It found that the rate of unemployment among women in the city was more than 5 per cent, higher than the national average.

Nearly 91.5 per cent of women immigrants to the city work at industrial and export processing zones, run small business, or do seasonal jobs since they lack knowledge or skills.

"They do not have any knowledge of social and health insurance or labour contracts, and so do not protest when their employers do not sign contracts or pay social and health insurance for them," Xoan said.

Their average salary at industrial and export processing zones is around VND2.3 million while the cost of living in the city is rising relentlessly, forcing them to cut back on rent, healthcare, and entertainment.

They rent an average of 14.59-14.9sq.m per person in premises that lack hygiene and can only afford 2.7 per cent to 5 per cent of their income for healthcare, with most of them going to pharmacies rather than doctors for medicines.

Ninety per cent of them do not have time to attend training courses to improve their skills because they have to work to earn money.

Just over a third of them have the time to take part in events organised by social organisations like trade unions and women's unions, meaning most are unable to learn about labour laws or benefits.

The researchers recommended that employers and authorities should take greater care of women workers, especially migrants.

More research would need to be done into the life and work of women migrants to enable policy makers to draft specific policies to support them, they added. — VNS

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Fair showcases youth inventors

HA NOI — Seventy-four top entries from the 6th Nationwide Creative Competition for Youth and Children will be displayed at the 7th International Exhibition for Young Inventors (IEYI) on December 16-18.

The announcement was made by the Viet Nam Fund for Supporting Technological Creations (Vifotec) in Ha Noi on Monday.

Dr. Kim Chi, representing the creative competition's jury, said the majority of entries this year focused on three main areas ­ – toys and entertainment, environmental protection and economic development.

Top designs put safety as a priority or were mechanised and automated children's toys, she said.

Vifotec's director Le Duy Tien said IEYI was the first of its kind in Viet Nam, and aimed to promote creativity and allow Vietnamese children and youth to engage with international friends.

Young inventors, aged between 6 to 19, will present their inventions in 200 booths, focusing on learning aids, software, children's toys, environmental protection and energy-saving measures, he said.

The event was expected to attract the participation of 400 inventors from 40 countries and organisations worldwide. — VNS

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Cuban newspaper praises relations with Vietnam

The Granma daily newspaper, the official organ of the Cuban Communist Party, has run an article, highlighting the 50 th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Cuba and Vietnam.

The article was written by Cuba ’s former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Hector Rodriguez Llompart who, together with Vietnam ’s Prime Minister’s Office Nguyen Khang, signed an agreement to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries on December 2, 1960, ushering in a new era in bilateral ties, solidarity, friendship and cooperation.

Llompart began the article by recalling the time he and Minister Nguyen Khang had signed the agreement witnessed by Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Van Dong and Minister of Foreign Trade Phan Anh.

In 1973, Llompart accompanied Commander in Chief Fidel Castro on his first ever visit to Vietnam . “ Cuba was the first country to recognise the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam and Commander in Chief Fidel Castro was the only head of state to visit the liberated areas of southern Vietnam ,” he wrote.

Regarding the Cuban people’s solidarity and support towards Vietnam , the author wrote: “ Cuba ’s unconditional support was summarised in Fidel’s words ‘For Vietnam, Cuba is ready to sacrifice its blood.’ Despite the embargo and difficulties, Cuba donated 775,600 tonnes of sugar to Vietnam during the period 1960-1980.”

Llompart, who was once Governor of Cuba’s Central Bank, also praised Vietnam's socio-economic achievements. “ Vietnam is one of the world’s fastest growing economies and the Vietnamese people are the first to benefit from these achievements.”

Vietnam has successfully eradicated illiteracy, reduced the fatality rate amongst infants and the number of poor households while greatly improving people’s living standards.

Half of Vietnam ’s population are under 25 years old, but its unemployment rate remains low and 65 percent of the population are engaged in agricultural production. Vietnam has emerged as the world’s second largest exporter of rice and rubber, third in terms of coffee and the leader in pepper exports.

On bilateral trade, Llompart said that there has been substantial progress made in two-way trade, which currently exceeds 300 million USD a year. Vietnamese-Cuban joint ventures have also done well and rice production in Cuba , with the help of Vietnamese experts, has brought about major benefits to the Cuban economy.

With the achievements made in high technologies, Vietnam is also part of information technology and electronic projects in Cuba and explores and produces oil and gas in the Mexico Gulf .

In his summing up, the former deputy foreign minister confirmed that Vietnam has done well in its efforts to realise President Ho Chi Minh’s words: “To build a Vietnam 10 times more beautiful than it already is.”/.

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Support sought for sailors on sunken RoK ship

The Overseas Labour Management Department has asked five companies that dispatched 11 sailors to work on recently sunk trawler No. 1 Insung to join hands with Republic of Korea (RoK) parties to deal with the incident.

In an official dispatch, the department, a subsidiary body of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, requested the targeted companies send authorised officials to the RoK to work with concerned parties to identify the names of the dead, missing and survivors.

The department asked the companies to inform families and localities of the 11 sailors and provide support to help the families overcome their current difficulties.

It demanded the companies coordinate with the ship owner to bring the survivors ashore for treatment, and buy flight tickets and conduct necessary procedures to bring them home safely if they want to come back to Vietnam after being discharged from hospital.

According to the dispatch, the companies should seek permission from families to authorise the companies or the ship owner to work with concerned parties to make the necessary arrangements for dead or missing sailors.

The department also urged the businesses to hold funeral observances, bring home the ashes or bodies and assets of the dead in line with their families’ wishes, as well as laws and customs of the two nations, and coordinate with partners and the ship owner to fully pay salary, bonus and allowances and other benefits to the sailors.

The five companies include the LOD Human Resource Development Corp., the Traenco Joint Stock Company, the Civil Engineering Construction Corp. No. 1, the Southern Waterborne Transport Corp. and the Tourism, Trade and Labour Export Joint Stock Company.

The RoK Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has officially confirmed that 11 out of 42 sailors on board the trawler, which sank in Antarctic waters on the morning of December 13, were Vietnamese, with one dead, three missing and seven rescued.

Other crew members on the 614-DWT vessel include eight RoK citizens, eight Chinese, 11 Indonesians, three Filipinos and one Russian. So far, five crew members have been confirmed dead and 17 others missing. The search and rescue team has already decided to end search efforts due to freezing water and short survival times in Antarctic waters./.

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NGO provides aid for Vietnamese trade unions

APHEDA, the organisation of Australian People for Health, Education and Development Abroad, has contributed greatly to improving the capacity of trade unions in Vietnam since it first made its presence felt in the country 25 years ago.

Since 2010, APHEDA, an overseas aid agency funded by the Australian Council of Trade Unions, has carried out a number of projects to help build up trade unions in five industrial and economic zones in the northern city of Hai Phong, the northern province of Hai Duong and Ho Chi Minh City.

The Australian organisation has also implemented numerous programmes in Vietnam with a focus on foreign language training, team negotiation skills, HIV/AIDS prevention in the community and the social responsibility of businesses.

The organisation has also conducted research and information and education campaigns to raise the public’s awareness of the health risks of using asbestos and helping to build an asbestos information centre in Hanoi .

APHEDA supported Hanoi, HCM City and several provinces such as Bac Can, Hai Duong, Hai Phong, Nghe An, Quang Tri, Da Nang, Binh Duong and Dong Nai in hunger eradication and poverty reduction, as well as in reducing discrimination against people with HIV, disabled people and victims of human trafficking.

Their programmes have received financial support from Australian and other international organisations such as the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), Finland ’s Trade Union Solidarity Centre, the Olof Palme organisation from Sweden , the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the United Nations.

It became the first overseas organisation to receive the Friendship Order from a Vietnamese President in 1998 and a campaign medal from the Vietnamese Women’s Union in 2004./.

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