Public health
Priority health concerns
City supports voluntary blood donations amid debate on draft law
While a pending draft law would require all Vietnamese to donate blood at least once a year, HCM City has set a target to have at least 220,000 citizens donate blood voluntarily this year. The city authority also targets having at least 94 per cent ...
Increase in drug-resistant TB in southwest
An increase in the number of resistant-TB cases has occurred in the southwestern region of Việt Nam, according to the head of the region’s national TB prevention and control office. At a conference on TB prevention held last week in Cần Thơ, Dr Nguyễn Thị ...
On the front lines of malaria elimination
Rural health centres throughout the country are leading the fight against the scourge of drug-resistant malaria. Can international organizations, local health officials and the government unite before the parasite spreads? Amid the sugar cane plantations and rice paddies of Kampong Speu, the Oral district health ...
Maternity leave: How Vietnam compares to neighbors
The ILO believes Vietnam has fairly progressive policies to protect working mothers. Vietnamese female workers are offered up to 26 weeks maternity leave, above the average level of 12-13 weeks seen in Southeast Asia, according to the International Labor Organization. Vietnam has a system of ...
Four new Zika virus cases in Đồng Nai Province
Four new Zika virus infection cases have been recorded in southern Đồng Nai Province since the end of December, according to the province’s Steering Board for Epidemic Prevention. The cases occurred in Nhơn Trạch District’s Vĩnh Thanh Commune, Bạch Thái Bình, director of the province’s ...
Hemp growing initially to be limited to govt
Only government agencies will be able to seek permission to grow, sell and possess hemp – which is now classified as a type of narcotic – during the first phase of an initiative to legalise cultivation of the plant. Individuals and private entities will be ...
Myanmar pledges to improve HIV prevention services coverage next year
Myanmar Health Ministry has pledged to improve the coverage of its prevention services across the country against HIV next year, sources with the ministry said on December 26. The ministry is implementing the HIV prevention plan at over 35 hospitals in states and regions including some ...
Climate change triggers new diseases in Vietnam
Scientists have found connections between climate change and the appearance of new diseases, especially vector borne diseases, including dengue fever and malaria. Vietnam is among five countries in the world to suffer the most from climate change. According to the Central Steering Committee on Fighting and ...
Patient numbers at public hospitals continue to tumble
The number of patients checking in to receive advice and treatment at government hospitals continues to decline because healthcare services were lacking in quality. Minister of Health, Associate Prof. Dr Bounkong Syhavong made the admission at a signing ceremony for construction of a patient’s service ...
PSI provides US$2.4 million to fight malaria
Population Services International to Laos has agreed to provide over US$2.4 million for fiscal year 2017-2018 to strengthen the private health sector’s capacity to combat malaria. A signing ceremony for the agreement was held on December 20 between the Director General of the Communicable Disease Control ...
