Firms
guilty of social insurance avoidance

The
volume of social insurance contributions to the HCM City fund last year was
lower than expected because companies took advantage of unclear regulations,
according to the city Social Insurance Agency.

Speaking
to the National Assembly’s Social Affairs Committee, Cao Van Sang, head of the
city agency, said only 1.6 million of 1.8 million eligible employees were
covered by compulsory insurance.

Contributions are based on the number of contracts signed with employees, but
some companies either did not sign contracts or reported lower salaries to avoid
making payments.

The
total volume of money collected should have been about VND10 trillion (US$478.5
million), but the actual contributions amounted to VND9.8 trillion ($468.9
million).

Bui Sy
Loi, head of the National Assembly’s Social Affairs Committee, said an
inspection of four provinces, Khanh Hoa, Binh Dinh, Phu Tho and Lao Cai, showed
that these practices were common there as well.

Labour
management in these localities was weak, he said.

Loi
asked the NA to amend the Labour Law’s provisions that deal with labour
management and social insurance.

He said
that a clearer definition of who must pay social insurance was needed.

Regulations on the payment rates should also be clarified, he added.

Vendor
dies as car hits preschool

A 42-year-old street
vendor was killed on Tuesday afternoon when a woman reversed over her in her car
outside at Tuoi Ngoc Preschool in HCM City’s District 8.

The
accident occurred while the woman was trying to reverse park her vehicle. Pham
Thi Dung, the vendor, died on the spot while two brothers aged three and six
were injured. They were taken to hospital in critical conditions.

Coal gas puts elderly couple in hospital

A
couple, aged 62 and 65, from central Thanh Hoa Province have been poisoned by a
coal stove they were using to warm themselves, reported Ha Noi’s Bach Mai
Hospital on Tuesday.

Carbon
monoxide gas from the coal caused them to lose consciousness, said hospital
doctors.

The
patients were initially taken to central Thanh Hoa Province Hospital and were
discharged after three days, but a week later, they lost consciousness again and
were taken to Bach Mai Hospital.

Crackdown on mobile advertising

The Ha
Noi Department of Information and Communications has asked telecommunications
providers to cut off services to another 84 mobile phone subscribers for
illegally advertising their services on street walls, despite being warned a
total of nine times.

About
400 subscribers have already had their services cut for the same reason.

Woman
with rare blood clot condition survives operation

Vietnamese
doctors have for the first time successfully saved a patient suffering from
meningitis using a new technology that extracts blood clots through a patient’s
veins.

The
operation was successfully carried out by doctors at the HCM City-based Nguyen
Tri Phuong hospital and the HCM City Medicine and Pharmacy University.

Doctor
Pham Anh Tuan at the Nguyen Tri Phuong hospital said the 30-year-old patient was
hospitalised on January 7 with meningitis while also suffering from a brain
haemorrhage.

After
initial surgery, the patient recovered slightly but blood clots continued to
form, blocking blood supply from the heart to the brain. This required doctors
to apply the new technique to clear away blood clots, said Tuan.

Doctor
Tran Chi Cuong from the university said this was the first time the technique
had been applied in Viet Nam.

We used
to extract blood clots through arteries,” he said.

“The
patient was very close to death and we decided to apply the new technique.

Doctor
Tuan said the patient is now in full possession of her senses and can drink and
eat normally.

“However, the illness has left her paralysed on the left side,” he said.

The
patient is expected to be discharged from the hospital during the next two to
three weeks.

Hai
Phong starts healthcare programme for drug addicts

A new
project to improve community health services for people who abuse drugs kicked
off yesterday in northern Hai Phong Port City.

The
US$120,000 project was organised by the city’s Department of Labour, War Invalid
and Social Affairs and the Bureau of Social Evils Prevention, with support from
Family Health International (FHI) and sponsorship from Atlantic Philanthropies.

Social
workers will be trained to help drug users access treatment services in the
community.

According to Family Health International, Hai Phong has 8,000 habitual drug
users. About 2,000 of them are being cared for at centres.

Caroline
Francis, deputy director of FHI in Viet Nam, said Hai Phong was the leading
locality in providing health services for drug users.

The
city’s methadone programme together with other services have helped improve the
health of drug users.

The
project has created opportunities for social work students to improve their
experiences and practices in the community.

Le Thi
Dai, deputy director of the city’s Department of Labour, War Invalids and Social
Affairs, said she hoped the project would lead to new policies for drug users
that will help them return to normal lives.

The
project is part of the Government’s scheme to develop social work as a
professional occupation by 2020.

llegal
slaughterhouse pollutes environment

Inspectors
from Lai Chau Town’s Tan Phong Ward People’s Committee have uncovered a private
slaughter-house that has been contaminating the local environment.

Inspectors discovered waste including skin, bones, legs and other unprocessed
cattle parts discarded in the slaughterhouse garden.

Waste
was also found in a nearby sluice gate.

Crackdown on mobile advertising

The Ha
Noi Department of Information and Communications has asked telecommunications
providers to cut off services to another 84 mobile phone subscribers for
illegally advertising their services on street walls, despite being warned a
total of nine times.

About
400 subscribers have already had their services cut for the same reason.

VNN/VOV/VNS