New heart unit treats 500 children

A cardiology unit established in February 2010 at the HCM City Children’s Hospital No 2 has since performed surgical procedures on more than 500 children with congenital heart defects.

At the first anniversary of the unit yesterday, Dr Ha Manh Tuan, director of the hospital, said that more than 130 open-heart procedures and nearly 400 interventional cardiology procedures were performed during the last one year, with mortality rate standing at below 3 per cent.

Under an exchange programme, doctors and nurses from Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Ireland have shared their knowledge and experiences with the unit’s teams, allowing them to perform successfully complex surgeries, Tuan said.

Six Irish doctors and nurses were awarded Certificates of Merit by the HCM City People’s Committee for their cooperation and support.

In Viet Nam, around 16,000-20,000 children are born with heart defects every year, but only 2,000 children are able undergo the needed surgeries, according to Phan Kim Phuong, director of the HCM City’s Heart Hospital.

Hand-foot-mouth outbreak worsens in HCM City

The number of children in HCM City coming to hospitals with hand-foot-mouth (HFM) disease has been increasing steadily in the last two weeks, according to doctors.

Dr Truong Huu Khanh, head of the infectious and neurological diseases ward at the Paediatric Hospital No 1, said the number of children being hospitalised every day has almost doubled the avarage 20 in the recent past.

On Thursday alone, 35 were admitted, he said, five in serious condition and requiring a respirator.

One child died a few days ago due to severe complications after being admitted to hospital late, he added.

The Paediatric Hospital No.2 admitted 27 children on Thursday.

Dr Nguyen Dac Tho, deputy head of the city Preventive Medicine Centre, said from an average of 30 per day in the last two weeks, the number has increased to 80.

So far this year, out of the 600 children who contracted the disease – mostly belonging to the City – three had died, he said.

Doctors are worried since usually there are no early fatalities in the early part of the year.

Normally the disease peaks between October and December though there are also many cases in the period from March to May.

There was no vaccine against HFM and the best preventive method was keeping the environment, cooking, and drinks hygienic, he said.

He urged local preventive medicine centres to strengthen preventive measures against this and other infectious diseases, especially at schools, including propaganda about preventive methods.

The Department of Education and Training has also ordered kindergartens to carry out preventive measures against HFM and other infectious diseases.

Jailed for life, released, smuggled, jailed again

A Singaporean man who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1993 in Vietnam for smuggling and was released 6 years later was given the same sentence by the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court yesterday for a fresh smuggling crime.

The court announced the sentence to Huang Wen Gui, alias Ng Boon Kwee or A Quy, for trafficking various goods worth over VND2.9 billion (US$138,600).

According to the indictment from the local Procuracy, when inspecting a container in a warehouse in Ho Chi Minh City’s Thu Duc District on January 25, 2010, the city’s economic crime police detected and seized 200 air-conditioners, 45 DVD recorders, 29 Sony TV sets, 125 cartons of playing-cards and a quantity of other items without invoices or other documents proving their origins.

Police later detained Huang Wen Gui, the goods owner, who later pleaded guilty to smuggling the goods from Singapore to Vietnam.

Gui said he had TW Water-Bird Breeding Company act as the importer of the goods for him.

Gui said he selected this company as the buyer as it was enjoying incentive treatment in customs clearance thanks for its good compliance with Vietnam’s customs and tax regulations.

In the customs declaration form he made in Singapore for the smuggled goods, Gui declared them as “industrial air compressors”.

Eighteen years ago, in 1993, Gui was caught smuggling goods to Vietnam and was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Supreme People’s Court.

The court also ordered him to pay a fine of VND30 million (US$1,430 now).

After serving six years in prison, Gui was released under a special reprieve in 1999.

Until now, he has yet to pay the fine that he should have paid 18 years ago.

Gun-wielding official to be punished

Dang Van Tuan, deputy head of Market Management Team No 4 will be given disciplines for threatening a local woman with a gun in southern Can Tho City over ten days ago.

Do Van Dung, deputy head of the Can Tho City Industry and Trade Department and head of the Market Management Sub-department, yesterday ordered the team and its Party unit to take disciplinary actions against Tuan and submit their relevant reports to the two agencies.

On the night of March 27, Tuan, living in Cai Khe Ward, got home after drinking and was told by his wife about her conflict with a neighbor, Nguyen Kim Phuong, over a fight between their kids.

Tuan then, in drunken mood, used a cocked gun to threaten to shoot Phuong, who ran away from her home in panic.

Phuong’s neighbors called emergency police 113 and local police to the scene.

At the police office, Tuan admitted his gun use but said it was a toy gun.

A few hours later, Tuan handed in the gun, which is actually a plastic bullet gun.

Dung was given an administrative fine of VND750,000 (US$36) by the Ward police for his offense.

HCMC to increase emergency medical centers

Trung Vuong General Hospital, which runs Ho Chi Minh City’s emergency medical hotline, assured it already planned to increase its emergency centers citywide in a response to a recent report by Tuoi Tre.

Doctor Do Quoc Huy, deputy head of the hospital, told Tuoi Tre Trung Vuong would add two centers in the suburban districts of Cu Chi and Thu Duc this year and three others by the end of 2015 to meet public needs.

Each of the centers when completed would have 5 ambulances, he said.

At present, all emergency calls to the hotline number 115 are directed to the District 10-based hospital, which has a total of 10 ambulances.

This system is revealed as inadequate by a survey reported by Tuoi Tre on Tuesday.

According to the survey which was carried out by Trung Vuong itself, only 32% of the city’s 10 million residents actually know about the emergency services and hotline.

The emergency center receives 16-20 calls per day at most, which is a modest number compared to the total population.

Most emergency cases are rushed to the hospital by taxi or motorbike.

The busiest time ever recorded was when four ambulances were summoned simultaneously.

It takes an ambulance 10 minutes on average to travel to areas around District 10 and 28 minutes to reach patients farther away.

Responding to readers’ complaints that sometimes nobody answers the hotline, doctor Huy assured that the hotline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

At present, the 115 team provides treatment at the site or transfers patients to the nearest healthcare facility for a price.

Patients are charged VND15,000 (US$0.7) per kilometer and VND30,000 for treatment excluding the cost of medicines and medical supplies.

Ho Chi Minh City inspectors find dodgy crash helmets

Ho Chi Minh City market authorities discovered low-quality crash helmets at shops selling them in Binh Tay market in District 6 last Thursday.

They seized nearly 100 helmets that lacked labels or information about origin.

Tran Van Xiem, deputy head of the goods quality management unit’s southern office, said there are many sports and fashionable helmets in the market but they do not measure up to safety standards.

He urged the goods quality management unit to warn consumers not to buy such products since they do not ensure safety for users.

Infrastructure projects considered top priority in 2011

The Ministry of Transport has announced a list of eight infrastructure projects that must be completed this year because they are vital to the transportation of goods across the country.

The projects are construction of a runway at Da Nang International Airport in Da Nang City; upgrading Ben Thuy Bridge on the Nation Highway 1A section that runs through the central province of Nghe An; construction of the Hau River and Cho Gao canals in the Mekong Delta; expansion of an aircraft parking area at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi; construction of a railway between Ha Long Bay and Cai Lan Seaport in the northern province of Quang Ninh; and construction of Dam Cung Bridge in the southern province of Ca Mau and Ngoc Thap Bridge in the northern province of Phu Tho.

The projects will be funded chiefly by Official Development Assistance (ODA). The government, however, is also encouraging private investors to pitch in.

Former officials’ wrongdoings come home to roost

Police have arrested two former officials entrusted with executing court verdicts and a former expert attached to the Party Committee Office in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province for alleged abuse of power a decade ago.

The Ministry of Public Security’s security and investigation department yesterday took in Tran Van Muoi, 49, a former head of the Civil Verdict Enforcement Agency, and Le Minh Huy Hoang, 49, his then subordinate, and Hoang Anh Linh, the expert.

Officers from the Department searched the three men’s houses the same day looking for documents.

They allegedly committed wrongdoings while executing the civil portion of a verdict handed down by the Appellate Court of the Supreme People’s Court in Ho Chi Minh City against Trinh Vinh Binh, a Vietnamese-Dutch businessman in 1997.

More details are expected soon.

In the early 1990s Binh had come to Vietnam to invest.

In 1997 he was prosecuted for violating land management regulations and bribing state officials.

He was sentenced to 11 years in prison and the court also ordered the confiscation of his assets totally worth $846,000.

Recently the provincial police said they have discovered wrongdoings by the three former officials in the auction of Binh’s assets.

Epidemics spread nationwide

Since the beginning of this year, 425 patients have tested positive for the A/H1N1 flu virus, and 11 have died, according to the Preventive Medicine Department under the Ministry of Health (MoH).

The Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases alone has treated 253 cases of infection, including 176 patients positive for the deadly virus. Most patients are at the working age and 43 percent of the dead are pregnant women.

According to recent statistics by the Preventive Medicine Department, nearly 9,400 people in 40 provinces and cities across the country have been infected by dengue fever since January 2011, with seven fatalities. The number of dengue fever patients has increased by 4.4 percent compared to last year’s first quarter figure.

Quang Nam: US$130,000 for preventing from child labour

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has assisted the central province of Quang Nam with US$130,000 for a project to prevent child labour.

The project will be implemented in Dien An and Dien Phuoc communes in Dien Ban district, Duy Nghia and Duy Vinh communes in Duy Xuyen district, and A Tieng commune in Tay Giang district.

Its goal is to stop child labour in seafood processing, footwear manufacturing, weaving, construction, gold exploration and other dangerous industries.

From now until September 2012, Quang Nam province will raise public awareness and provide vocational training courses for 1,400 children so they can escape from dangerous work.

In addition, 500 poor households will be supported to approach credit programmes which will enable them to invest in production and improve their lives.

More than 47,800 households in Ben Tre rise from poverty

More than 47,800 household in Ben Tre province rose out of poverty between 2006 and 2010.

The provincial People’s Committee reported that the number of poor households fell from 20.02 percent in 2006 to 4.15 percent in 2010. The three localities with poor households fewer than 3 percent are Ben Tre City (2.04 percent), Chau Thanh district (2.05 percent) and Giong Tom district (2.20 percent). Three districts have a poverty rate above 3 percent are Ba Tri, Thach Phu and Cho Lach.

The province has implemented a number of measures to reduce poverty rate, including providing more than VND1,156 billion in loans to more than 142,500 households, generating more than 155,000 stable jobs for local people, and providing vocational training. It has also carried out social policies to assist with health care, education, accommodation and legal issues.

More than 160,000 poor people have been granted free medical insurance and more than 105,000 people a step above the poverty line are being given assistance to buy medical insurance each year.

According to the new standards, Ben Tre has more than 55,800 poor households, which accounts for 15.55 percent of its total population. It plans to reduce this number by 2 percent each year with the goal of only 7 percent of poor households by 2015.

Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar celebrate traditional New Year

The Hanoi Union of Friendship Organisations (HUFA) in coordination with the Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar embassies held a friendship exchange in Hanoi on April 9 to celebrate the traditional New Year of the four countries.

Present at the exchange were chairman of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations, Vu Xuan Hong, UNESCO chief representative in Vietnam, Katherine Muller Marin, HUFA chairman, Dao Van Binh, representatives from friendship associations and staff from the four embassies.

Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc, Vice Chairwoman of the Hanoi People’s Committee, sent New Year’ greetings to Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar and said that the special relationship between Vietnam and all four countries has developed well in recent years. Celebrating their New Year in Hanoi helps Vietnamese people gain a better understanding of neighbours’ culture and strengthen ties of friendship and cooperation between them and Vietnam in all fields including economics, politics, and culture.

Participants at the exchange enjoyed traditional rituals, such as tying a thread around one’s wrists, splashing water and special cultural performances, as well as traditional food from all four countries.

Traditional New Year of four countries is often celebrated in mid-April.

Vietnam presents houses to Lao war veterans

The Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MB) in collaboration with the Laos War Veteran Association presented three houses of compassionate on April 8 to Lao war veterans living in difficult circumstances in Vientiane.

The President of the Laos War Veterans Association highlighted the good deeds of Uncle Ho’s heroic soldiers who stood side by side with the Lao people during the war, also highly appreciated paying debts of gratitude.

After three months of operating in Laos, the MB has gained outstanding achievements with total assets around US$16.6 million and mobilized capital US$4.1 million.

Vietnamese victims in Russian fire identified

Russian authorities have identified four Vietnamese citizens, including two women and two men, killed in a fire that flared up at a Moscow-based garment factory on April 7.

One of the two female victims was Hoang Thi Que, born in 1987, from Dien Chau district in the central province of Nghe An, and the other, named Huong, came from the northern province of Bac Giang.

The men, one named Thien, born in 1985 and the other, named Triu, both were from the Red River delta province of Thai Binh.

The Division of Community Affairs at the Vietnamese Embassy in Russia dispatched representatives to work with relevant Russian agencies to deal with the incident, cremate the dead bodies and bring their ashes to Vietnam.

The fire that blazed up due to an electrical leakage also killed another person from Tajikistan.

An Hai broadcasting station launched in Da Nang

The construction work of An Hai broadcasting station was launched in the central city of Da Nang by Radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) and the city’s Municipal People’s Committee on April 8.

The VND40billion-broadcasting station will be built on an area of more than 8,000m2. The Da Nang Department of Natural Resources and Environment will be the major investor and VOV will install the equipment.

Speaking at the launch ceremony, VOV Director General Vu Van Hien pledged that VOV will invest to make the broadcasting station a modern construction to improve the quality and widen the coverage of the national radio broadcasting to better disseminate Party and State policies to the people.

VND9.6 billion raised to support orphans and the disabled

The 8th “One Heart, One World” charity event was held at the Friendship Palace in Hanoi on April 9.

The event was organised by the Vietnam Association in Support of Disabled People and Orphans in coordination with the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and Vietnam Television.

It took place on the occasion of Vietnam’s Day for the Disabled (April 18) with the aim of assisting handicapped people and orphans in rural and remote areas.

During the programme, participants had the opportunity to witness examples of overcoming difficulties and integrating into the local community.

The organising board received VND9.6 billion which it handed over to the Vietnam Association in Support of Disabled People and Orphans.

2 million brochures promote Ha Long Bay

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) and the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism launched a campaign on April 9 to promote tourism and voting for Ha Long Bay as a natural wonder of the world.

More than 120 travel agents and three-five star hotels in Ho Chi Minh City joined the campaign.

The VNAT has sent two million brochures promoting Ha Long Bay in Vietnamese, English, French, Russian and Chinese to travel agents, tourism sites, embassies, international organizations in Vietnam and domestic and foreign airline agents.

According to the New Open World, the voting will end on October 31, 2011 and the seven chosen natural wonders of the world will be announced on November 11, 2011.