New stipulation on shelf life of imported medicine As of February 14, the imported medicine must have a remaining shelf life of at least one year, according to the Health Ministry’s recent circular. Circular No 47 provides guidelines on the import and export of medicine and related packages. Specifically, imported medicine whose expiry date is more than 24 months will be required to have a minimum shelf life of 1.5 years. The corresponding figure for the medicine with expiry date equal to or below 24 months will be 1 year since the date of import. For unregistered vaccines and medical biological products, they must have a remaining expiry time equal to two thirds of its total expiry date. Those with registered numbers for circulation can have the figure decreased to a half of the total. The Health Ministry also stipulates that imported medicine materials must have a remaining expiry time of more than 3 years. Regarding donated medicine, the remaining shelf life must stand at a minimum of 12 months since the date of import. Youth give advice to migrants At least 40 out of nearly 200 migrant workers who received job counselling and were offered jobs accepted the offers on the opening day of a programme to assist migrant workers at major bus stations in HCM City on Sunday.  | The Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union’s Secretary Phan Van Mai gives awards to young volunteers who attend a programme to assist migrant workers in HCM City. (Photo: VNS) | The Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, which is running the programme, has deployed more than 200 young volunteers at the Mien Tay and Mien Dong bus stations to guide migrants to offices set up within the station. Le Thi Ngoc Cam from the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Tien Giang chose a job with a textile company in Go Vap District after examining the vacancy notices posted at the Mien Tay office. “I could find a suitable job without much effort and the information provided about the job and accommodation was reliable,” she said. She was among thousands of migrants pouring into the two bus stations the day after the week-long Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday, normally the peak period for migrant workers to come to the city looking for jobs. The one-month programme aimed to help migrant workers access reliable employment opportunities and prevent unscrupulous elements from taking advantage of them at the bus stations, Nguyen Van Sang, deputy director of the Youth Union’s Centre for Career Orientation, Vocational Training and Employment Services, said. It also sought to help migrant workers find lodging at reasonable cost, he said. The event was offering around 10,000 jobs in 100 companies at monthly salaries of VND1.5 million-VND8 million, he added. The city is forecast to need 265,000 workers this year, with manual workers accounting for more than 45 per cent, according to the Centre for Forecasting Manpower Needs and Labour Market Information. Migrant workers will make up 30 per cent of the city’s labour force, with 70 per cent of them opting for manual jobs. Foot-and-mouth disease recurs in 14 provinces and cities nationwide The foot-and-mouth disease has recurred in 14 provinces and cities nationwide, according to the Veterinary Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The northern province of Yen Bai and the central province of Quang Ngai have also reported outbreaks of the disease after the Lunar New Year festival. In January, the disease afflicted 600 birds in 12 communes in the four districts of Tram Tau, Mu Cang Chai, Tran Yen and Yen Binh. In Quang Ngai, the disease was detected at 74 households in six communes in Tra Bong district. According to health experts, it is worrying that not only cattle but also pig can contract the disease. Van Dang Ky, head of the Epidemiological Service of the Animal Health Department said that the disease continued to spread fast to adverse weather conditions. He called for effective measures to isolate the infected areas. He said health experts will be sent to help farmers stop the disease spreading. Ha Noi earmarks $28.4m for key projects Ha Noi planned to earmark more than VND592 billion (US$28.4 million) to support investment in a number of important projects, announced municipal People’s Committee Chairman Nguyen The Thao at a meeting with relevant departments and agencies on Monday. The key projects included the construction of social housing, housing for workers, pupils, students and the upgrade of run-down apartment buildings along with the implementation of more than 150 residential area projects which were expected to provide accommodation for two million people. The fund would also be geared to supporting major transport projects including Nhat Tan bridge, new National Highway No 3 linking Ha Noi and Thai Nguyen Province and a highway linking Ha Noi and Hai Phong as well as other routes. Thao stressed that Ha Noi defined the boosting of construction of social infrastructure, dealing with traffic congestion and reducing environmental pollution as key tasks. He urged relevant agencies to fulfil their tasks to contribute to the implementation of the city’s 2011 socio-economic development plans which focused on speeding up economic growth and increasing social security, welfare and cultural development through the construction of infrastructure projects, sustainable development of urban areas, and improvement in the quality of the environment. The city targeted a GDP growth rate this year of 12 per cent upward, he said. Ha Noi leads the country’s high-rise-apartment rate Almost 17 per cent of housing in Ha Noi is high-rise apartments, the highest rate in the country and almost triple that in HCM City, reported the Ministry of Construction (MoC). High rise apartments currently account for an average of 3.72 per cent of the country’s total housing. According to the MoC, the high rate of high rises in Ha Noi showed a greater supply of housing for people who had a real need for it. The apartment rate was calculated on both completed and on-going projects. The MoC also reported an increase in the area of apartments with 51.5 per cent larger than 60sq.m and 17.9 per cent over 100sq.m. Coach driver fined $800 for overloading A bus driver was fined VND17 million (US$800) for carrying 43 passengers more than his bus’s registered capacity near Da Nang City on Sunday. It was the second time in three days the driver of the 60-seat coach, Pham Hong Quan, of central Ha Tinh Province, had been pulled up for overloading, police said. Passengers on the bus were mainly students and workers returning to the south after the Tet holidays. Patient saved after being stabbed in heart A 22-year-old man with three knife stab wounds to the heart was saved after four-hour surgery in central Phu Yen Province General Hospital on Saturday. Doctor Dai Quang Ngoc, deputy chief of the hospital’s general surgery department, said the heart of the patient was punctured in three places and he was in a critical condition. He also had a punctured stomach and small intestine. This was the first successful emergency operation in provincial hospital, the doctor said. Nine people die from carbon monoxide Nine youths, who died at a party in northern Hai Phong City on the fourth day of Tet, was due to carbon monoxide poisoning, said city police director Do Huu Gia. The incident took place when seven men and two women in their 20 were having a party in an enclosed room and inhaled CO from a car engine for 14 hours. The youths had used the car to provide light and music during a power cut. 700 people fined for not wearing helmets More than 650 people were fined for not wearing helmets in Ha Noi on the first day the city’s one-month traffic campaign on Friday. The police fined traffic law violators a total of VND450 billion($21,428), including buses, small trucks and motorbike drivers. A police spokesman said violators were mainly young people. Hanoi to reduce 24,200 poor households Hanoi will offer preferential credit loans to 75,000 poor households, according to its Plan on Poverty Reduction Programme released on February 14. The aim is to help 24,200 poor households in 20 communes escape poverty. Hanoi will also organise vocational training courses for 2,000 poor people and grant free health insurance cards to nearly 60,000 poor people, social policy beneficiaries, and the blind. Under the plan, poor students will be exempt from tuition and other kinds of fees while 11,250 old people, patients with fatal diseases and poor households will be provided with regular allowances. Japan cooperates with Lam Dong province in cancer treatment Lam Dong General Hospital and Toho Hospital of Sanshikai medical group, Japan, will cooperate in cancer treatment under a cooperative agreement signed on Feb. 14. Accordingly, Toho hospital will supply Lam Dong hospital with medical equipment, diagnostic methods and cancer treatments as well as exchange patients if required. In return, Lam Dong hospital will assist Toho hospital with procedures to receive and cure patients. In addition, both hospitals will exchange staff to share experiences in cancer treatment and prevention. In the second quarter of 2011, Sanshikai will also provide finance for three doctors from Lam Dong hospital to study in Japan and help cure diabetics. VNN/VOV/VNS
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