Public health
Health care policy and administration
Vietnamese PM issues decree on nutrients newly required in food
Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a decree to introduce iodine, iron, zinc and vitamin A as compulsory elements that need to be contained in Vietnamese food. Decree 09/2016/ND-CP on food fortification released last week and to take effect from 15 March this year ...
Leprosy patients suffer months with no medical care
After nine months without medical care, the posting of a single doctor to a “leprosy village” in Yangon is only a small consolation for its nearly 200 residents. For months, the villagers depended on donors to provide medicine and on health assistants or volunteers to administer ...
Next step in malaria strategy: paying for it
Following the announcement on 27 January of an ambitious new five-year plan to eliminate malaria in Cambodia, National Centre for Malaria officials and donors met again on 28 January, this time to discuss patching up a $22.8 million budget gap to fund the strategy’s first two years. Financial ...
Vietnam watches out for alarming Zika virus spread
Health officials are monitoring the spread of Zika virus in other countries, saying Vietnam is also at risk. The Preventive Health Department said the virus, which has been linked to brain damage in thousands of infants in Brazil, has not been detected in Vietnam. Keep reading ...
Ministry presents five-year malaria strategy
With concerns mounting over the increasing appearance of drug resistant strains of the disease along the Thai border, an ambitious five-year plan to eliminate the deadly Plasmodium Falciparium malaria parasite in Cambodia was presented on 27 January by the Ministry of Health. The Malaria Elimination Action Framework ...
“Myanmar is still the third-most malnourished country in Southeast Asia"
The United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) in Myanmar is facing a funding shortfall of $51 million to meet all the needs till the end of 2016. The organisation, which has a 250-strong staff in the country, says it provided food and cash assistance to ...
Emergency ambulances to make ‘death highway’ less lethal
Myanmar’s notorious “death highway” might become a little less deadly as plans go forward to set up an emergency ambulance service along the route. Hospitals along the Yangon-Nay Pyi Taw-Mandalay Highway are taking part in the scheme. Keep reading ...
Taiwan raises travel notices after Thai case of Zika virus
Taiwan has raised travel notices for five ASEAN nations, including Thailand and the Maldives, after a northern Thai man was hospitalised in Taiwan with a confirmed case of Zika, a mosquito-borne virus. Keep reading ...
Mekong nations build defences against bird flu
The ministries of health of Laos and other countries in the Mekong Region are taking steps to prevent and control avian influenza, or bird flu, over the next two months, in anticipation of a possible outbreak. Bird flu is an infectious disease of birds caused by ...
Ho Chi Minh City toughens penalties for street food safety violations
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health instructed relevant agencies to severely penalise small food stores and vendors on streets who continue to flout safety and hygiene regulations. Speaking at a workshop on this issue in Ho Chi Minh City on 13 January, its deputy ...
