A ground-breaking ceremony for a medical radiation cyclotron treatment centre was held at the Military Central Hospital 108 on April 16.
The 400 billion VND (25 million USD) centre, the first of its kind in the country, is being built with the Belgian Government official development assistance (ODA) under an initiative developed by Belgium's Prince Philip during his visit to Viet Nam in 2004.
Addressing the ceremony, Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung took the occasion to thank the Belgian Government and people for their help and asked the hospital’s administrators to work quickly to bring the centre into operation.
The installation of the centre will be completed by June 2008 and will be used to treat cancer and tumour patients four months later. Viet Nam contributed more than 200 billion VND (12.5 million USD) to the project.
Once operational, the centre will serve dual purposes of medical treatment and training and research for different economic and technical sectors.
A modern hospital being built to international health standards broke ground in the Mekong Delta's Can Tho city.
The 10-storey, 500-bed, 24,800 sq. m hospital is being built to ease the patient overloads that central hospitals are battling in the region.
Construction of the 31.2 million USD hospital is expected to be completed by 2010.
Central province offers scholarships to Laos students
The central coastal province of Khanh Hoa will grant five tertiary scholarships worth nearly 50,000 USD to students from the Lao province of Champasak.
The students will start currently studying at Nha Trang University later this year.
This is part of an earlier cooperation agreement signed in 2006 between the two provinces covering a number of areas, said the provincial People’s Committee Vice Chairman Nguyen Thi Thu Hang.
Khanh Hoa has been intensifying its ties with the Lao province in industry, trade, tourism, forestry and agriculture.
Further efforts of support for the province were recorded earlier this year when Khanh Hoa sent athletics coaches to Champasak to train provincial track and field athletes for their preparations for the upcoming Lao 2007 Games.
The province also financed a 900,000 USD political college in Luang Prabang province.
Tax agency to further simplify administrative procedures
The General Department of Taxation has committed to further simplifying administrative procedures to facilitate tax payment.
The commitment was made during a dialogue in Ho Chi Minh City on May 16 between the general department’s officials and more than 400 businesses in the southern region.
The dialogue focussed on the reform of tax-related administrative procedures with the aim of creating favourable conditions for taxpayers.
The tax sector is determined to educate personnel, affirming they are public servants, who are supposed to work for business development, leaders from the sector said.
They added that over recent years, tax policies have been revised repeatedly towards removing inappropriate taxes and increasing tax reduction and exemption, helping businesses to expand their production and improve their employees’ living conditions.
Australian NGO provides hope for disabled children
Australian organisation Hands of Hope has doled out more than 1 billion VND (62,500 USD) in aid that was used on free medical checks-up and treatment for 730 disabled children in northern Vinh Phuc province.
A substantial portion of the financing was used to conduct 140 orthopaedic operations and to purchase 31 orthopaedic devices and 62 wheelchairs.
In 2007 alone, Hands of Hope donated 512 million VND (32,000 USD) to perform operations on 185 children with limb deformities, Deltoid muscular fibrosis and eye malformations.
The group also organised two training courses on functional rehabilitation for family members of disabled children, provided 100 children with a monthly allowance of 100,000 VND and built 50 water wells for families of poor children in the Me Linh and Yen Lac districts.
American veterans raise 25,000 USD for A/O victims
The Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF) has granted 400,000 VND (25,000 USD) in aid to poor and disabled people, prioritising Agent Orange victims in Can Tho city.
The funding will help build or repair homes as well as provide investment to boost household economy, according to guidelines approved recently by the provincial administration.
The money will also be used to pay for plastic surgery and functional rehabilitation for children with malfunctional limbs and improve the living conditions of disabled children in the Can Tho city-based Tuong Lai (Future) school.
(Source: VNA) | 
