MoH plans to develop sea, islands medicine

Most of medical clinics in islands will enable to carry out anti-epidemic activities and expanded immunization and 90 percent of islands hospitals have doctors who can treat emergency cases and some other diseases.

In the project to develop medicine in the country's sea, islands to 2020 and with the vision to 2030 aiming to improve local inhabitants’ healthcare, Vietnamese Ministry of Health (MoH) is working on the plan that clinics in the country's sea, islands will be able to conduct immunization mission and medical workers there can treat local people in critical condition.

Currently the population in 28 coastal cities and provinces is around 43.9 million; in communes adjacent to seacoasts is approximately 16.8 million and in island districts of 242,000.

According to MoH, medical workers’ competence in clinics in sea, islands is limited and residents there do not fully enjoy all medical services. In addition, islands medical clinics lack means of transportation in sea to transfer patients in serious condition to big hospitals for emergency.

Accordingly the Ministry of Health said the project will offer justice to all inhabitants to access to basic medical services and high-tech medical technique to provide better treatment to residents and soldiers in the islands.

As per a survey conducted by the Ministry, the rate of member of a household in islands getting a disease is 70.5 percent.  Profession-related illnesses have usually seen among fishermen, divers, aquatic breeders, seaside fish catchers and laborers in drilling platforms.

According to Vietnam National Institute of Maritime Medicine’s survey carried out in last 10 years, popular diseases among island inhabitants were metabolic disorder, heart problems, dental diseases, psychology and accidents from working under the sea.

The Health Strategy and Policy Institute under the Ministry of Health said that around 33.6 percent medical clinics in islands have been newly built, and 35.3 percent of them are downgraded. Worse, there is a severe shortage of medical workers and around 46.7 percent of medical clinic have a physician.

It therefore needs to increase information of healthcare to residents in islands as well as implement the national medical major programs including anti-malnutrition among children, expanded immunization, food safety and hygiene, fighting infectious diseases such as dengue fever or non-infectious diseases such as heart problems and diabetes.

The Ministry said the expenditure to carry out the project is estimated around VND8.2 trillion (US$384,976,525); of which, VND1 trillion (US$46,948,356) will be taken from the state budget, the remaining will be from the government bonds, development investment, official development assistance (ODA) and social contribution.

After-Tet service for peach trees yields fruit for growers

Peach growers in Hanoi are making good money caring for expensive trees bought during the Tet holiday.

The service has grown in popularity among those who buy expensive trees to mark the Lunar New Year, but don't have the time or expertise to care for them until the next Tet, creating a side industry for professional growers in Nhat Tan and Duong Noi peach villages.

Customers pay an annual fee of VND1-3m a tree, which they leave with the grower after 10-15 days' use and get it back at the next Tet for use at no charge.

One grower offering the service, Pham Van Kien, said,"We have lots of regular customers who trust our service, so they pay us in advance, but new customers often ask us to sign a pledge to look after their tree, and only pay half in advance, the other half the following year."

Pham Van Ngu, a senior peach grower in Nhat Tan Village, said the cost of trees can change dramatically year-to-year. “If customers want to re-use their peach trees, our service is good value."

Significant results achieved in healthcare sector

Recent years have seen a renewed effort and substantial achievements in the healthcare sector, providing improved quality of life to the Vietnamese people.

Thanks to the sector’s efforts, Vietnam has successfully achieved Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to decrease the maternal and child mortality rate. With efficient measures such as standardised post-natal care in line with the latest guidance from the World Health Organisation (WHO), many of the maternal and child health indicators have shown strong progress.

The rate of pregnant women receiving prenatal care increased to 96.4 percent, the rate of pregnant women receiving the recommended two etanus vaccines rose to 95.7 percent, and the rate of mothers and children receiving postnatal care grew to 89.9 percent.

The sector has worked to expand the capacity of medical staff in obstetrical emergencies, including carrying out caesarean sections in mountainous hospitals. Notably, a midwifery training programme was developed and released at an ASEAN Health Ministers Meeting in 2014 and has since been implemented across the bloc.

The rate of underweight children due to malnutrition decreased to 15 percent in 2014 from 17.5 percent in 2010 and that of children suffering from stunted growth slid by 3.8 percent over the past four years, down to 25.5 percent in 2014.

The sector continues to take specific measures to ensure rapid and continuous decline in the rate of child malnutrition, the mortality ratio of children under 1 and 5 years old, and the maternal mortality rate in mountainous regions.

The healthcare sector also designs and disseminates population communication and provides family planning health services.

Banks asked to expand support for disadvantaged members

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has asked the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) and the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) to assist with housing gaps and generate jobs for welfare beneficiaries and households living at or below the poverty line.

While visiting VBSP officials on the occasion of the lunar New Year (Tet) on February 24, the Government leader directed the Ministry of Finance and the SBV to increase loans for the VBSP to organise online credit transactions for the underprivileged to develop production, build houses, and escape poverty in a sustainable manner.

The Prime Minister suggested the SBV allow the VBSP to increase loans for households and small- and medium-sized enterprises to expand manufacturing activities.

He spoke highly of the VBSP’s contributions to implementing the national target of sustainable poverty alleviation.

The crucial goal of the bank is to focus State financial resources on improving the living standards of poor households, increasing human resources training, and building new-style rural areas, he added.

After 12 years of operation, the VBSP has mobilised over 129.4 trillion VND (8.08 billion USD) for lending. More than 25.5 million impoverished households and welfare beneficiaries had access to the bank’s loans valued at 285 trillion VND (13.4 billion USD).

The credit availability has helped over 3.6 million households rise out of poverty; created jobs for over 11 million labourers; supported 3.3 million students to pursue their education; built over 6 million clean water supply facilities and hygiene toilets in rural areas; and constructed nearly 700 flood-proof houses in central provinces and 102,000 in the Mekong Delta and Central Highlands, and 482 houses for needy families nationwide.

Billions of dongs in scholarships for needy students in Thanh Hoa

As many as 2,000 poor pupils and students with outstanding academic performance in the northern Thanh Hoa province received Doan Toi scholarships on February 23.

Total value of the scholarships amounted to 2.5 billion VND (116,507 USD).

Also on the occasion, the provincial chapter of the Vietnam Post and Telecom Group (VNPT) presented 40 scholarships worth 1.5 million VND (70 USD) each and Thanh Hoa Medical Materials Equipment JSC gave 10 scholarships worth 5 million VND (233 USD) each.

Founded in 2008, Doan Toi foundation, one of Vietnam’s biggest educational funds, has awarded scholarships to some 15,000 eager learners.

The fund was named after its founder, Doan Toi, chairman and general director of the Nam Viet Corporation, who donated 1 million USD to the purpose.

Children need mental health support

Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper spoke with Bui Van Linh, deputy head of the Ministry of Education and Training's student affairs department, about the importance of counseling, especially at school.

What are your concerns about mental health counselling activities at schools, which you have said are often neglected and have led to numerous regrettable consequences?

The years children spend in school are a critical phase in the development of their personality and character. They often have to deal with not just academic problems, but also problems in their relationships with peers, family and teachers.

Without guidance and support to help them resolve their problems in a timely manner, they may drop out, suffer from depression or turn to violence.

A common occurrence recently that has attracted public attention is violence in schools. It's an alarming thing. Students aren't just violent against their peers but also against teachers, and I believe the lack of attention to students' mental health had contributed greatly.

In addition, when we talk about school violence we often think about fights - but they're the tip of the iceberg. School violence takes many forms, as students may feel they are being oppressed, threatened or bullied.

Left unresolved for long enough, those mental states can turn into clinical issues and become very difficult to treat. In some cases they may even lead to tragic incidents. It's school psychiatrists' mission to assist students and to prevent those incidents from happening.

School mental health counselling also aims to provide students with life skills, such as the ability to avoid or overcome crises in social relationships. Having a professional establishment for school psychiatrists will help attract well-trained and dedicated experts, similar to models used in developed countries.

What would you say to cities and provinces that are interested in bringing counselling to their schools, but are afraid they won't be able to afford highly qualified psychiatrists?

We understand that it may be difficult to hire mental health counsellors to permanent positions, as the education system is pushing to reduce its size. A temporary solution is to train existing teaching staff to perform the job.

The ministry will quickly finish administrative procedures to make mental health counsellors mandatory job positions for every school.

There have been educational psychology departments in many Vietnamese pedagogical universities, but for some reason there was no programme for school mental health counsellors until 2004. What do you think about the lacking of qualified people in this aspect of our education system?

It is true that Vietnamese pedagogical universities often focus on training teachers in technical and scientific subjects. Other fields that were considered supportive, such as mental health counselling, haven't received much attention until now.

The education system has realised the importance of having professional, dedicated mental health staff. However, to ensure successful implementation of the idea, we must learn how to integrate scientific principles and sound practices into the process.

The department is preparing for a conference at the end of the year to discuss a model for mental health counselling in Vietnamese schools. In the mean time, we are working with international organisations in related fields, and we encourage schools with existing mental health facility to

continue to improve and contribute ideas to our working model.-

Tourists flock to Binh Thuan and Dak Lak during Tet

The central provinces of Binh Thuan and Dak Lak saw a strong increase of tourists during the nine-day Lunar New Year Festival (Tet).

According to Binh Thuan’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, around 75,000 tourists, including 22,000 international visitors, visited prominent destinations in the province.

Tourists made their way to the beaches of Hon Rom, Bay Trang, Tuy Phong, and La Gi as well as resort areas in Ham Thuan and Mui Ne. The seafront Ham Tien-Mui Ne and the centre of Phan Thiet city are traditionally the most crowded.

The majority of foreign visitors came from Russia, Germany, Australia and France.

Meanwhile, the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak also saw 47,000 local and international visitors to tourist sites in the province during Tet, a 21 percent increase from last year.

The highest traffic sites from February 20-23 included Nga Sau Ban Me, the March 10 Square, the provincial children culture house’s park, the Dak Lak water park, the Biet Dien Museum, the Khai Doan Pogoda, and the Buon Don, Ko Tam, and Lak Lake tourism areas.

Experience needed for Railway Authority jobs

Candidates taking the Ministry of Transport's exam for the Viet Nam Railway Authority's chief positions are required to have at least three years of experience as manager in related fields.

They will also have to declare their property in a declaration form included in their applications, the Ministry of Transport announced yesterday.

Candidates will be asked to prepare an action plan and present it in front of the ministry's examining committee. The exams will focus on governmental management topics related to the field of transportation and an analysis of the industry's current strengths and limitations.

In addition, they also have to provide practical solutions to the country's railway issues and its development during the 2015 to 2020 period.

The exam is scheduled to take place at the beginning of April.

Ha Noi eateries return to normalcy

Most restaurants in Ha Noi's Old Quar-ter returned to business as usual yesterday, hoping for a prosperous year.

Well-known restaurants such as Pho Thin were packed with customers from the early morning.

"Our restaurant officially reopened today because it is a good day to start business again," said Tong Thi Phuong Thuy, the restaurant's owner.

"We've had lots of customers since this morning because many have returned to Ha Noi from their hometowns after the holiday and are fed up with greasy Tet food."

Thuy said she hoped that by reopening her restaurant on a lucky day, she would have a successful year.

Other reputed restaurants like Thinh Vuong on Ta Hien Street and popular eateries in the Old Quarter such as Pho Bat Dan also took a long holiday break and went back to business on a good day, according to local justification.

The sixth day of the Lunar New Year is considered a lucky one for opening shops, starting construction work and getting married.

VNN/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/ND