Fighting avian influenza and avian influenza in humans will be top priority for the health sector in July.
The Ministry of Public Health said it would focus on epidemic monitoring, preventing any outbreaks and finding how the deadly virus transmit from poultry to humans.
The Ministry will also increase cooperation with international organisations in the fight against avian influenza in humans and in accelerating the testing of type A influenza vaccines.
Uniform and drastic measures will be taken at all localities, with focus being placed on poultry vaccination.
The Veterinary Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said by June 21, 44 cities and provinces had completed this year’s first round of vaccination for poultry.
Since May, five humans have contracted H5N1 and two of them have died. Bird flu has by now hit 18 provinces and cities nationwide.
The Germany-VietnamFriendship Association, together with eight other European friendship associations, has been actively engaging in activities in the support of Vietnamese Agent Orange victims that are undertaking a lawsuit against 37 US chemical companies at the US Court of Appeal.
The association has sent articles voicing support for the Vietnamese victims’ request for justice to German newspapers and its press release on the issue was later sent to 80 newspapers in Germany.
The release was also translated into French, quoted and written in the banners displayed at the massive gathering in France on June 18, at the time the oral argument between Vietnamese victims as plaintiff and US chemical companies as defendants was being staged in New York.
According to the VietnamUnion of Friendship Organisations (VUFO), friendship organisations of many countries are continuing their campaigns to call for greater support for Vietnamese victims from the international community.
Doctors from Ho Chi Minh City are in Cambodia to perform between 100-200 free eye operations for disadvantaged Cambodians in Phnom Penh, from June 21.
During the three-day programme, the 36-member delegation of doctors from the Army Hospital 175 and the Eye Hospital in HCM City will perform the surgeries at the Preah Ket Melea Military Hospital in Phnom Penh by using the advanced facoemulsifier (Faco) method.
Addressing the opening ceremony of the programme, General Sorn Samnang, Head of the General Department of Logistics-Finances of the Cambodian Defence Ministry, expressed his appreciation for the work of the Vietnamese doctors.
To mark the occasion, Colonel Nguyen Phuc Quoc, on behalf of the Army Hospital 175, presented a modern endoscope to the Preah Ket Melea Military Hospital.
The role of local authorities in the prevention of domestic violence against women was put high on the agenda at a conference being held by the VietnamWomen’s Union in Ha Noi from June 21-22.
The conference, that is being run with the support of the Ford Foundation and the German Development Service (DED), aims to introduce models for local authorities and organisations to intervene in preventing domestic abuse.
Reports at the conference showed that domestic violence is common in rural, remote and isolated areas, where women and children are often physically and emotionally abused.
Key reasons behind the instances of abuse were highlighted as poor public awareness of the problem, a lack of strict legal punishments, weak interventions of authorities and cultural and traditional barriers.
Figures from the reports estimated that between 55-95 percent of battered women have never reported the abuse.
The Viet Nam-US Law Consultancy and Information Centre on June 21 began a symposium on promoting public awareness on the rights of individuals to access legal aid.
Legal experts and researchers from the Justice Ministry, the National Assembly Office, the Ministry of Public Security and UN agencies were all in attendance at the conference.
The two-day event is the last activity to take place on a 20,000 USD research project on judicial reforms that has been funded by the US Embassy in Viet Nam. The project, kicked off in June 2006, has helped Vietnamese agencies to screen legal regulations relating to an independent judiciary.
The US charity society Nehemiah has pledged to provide second-hand medical equipments to the Association for Protection of Poor Patients and the Cai Lay general hospital in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang.
In a June 20 decision, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem allowed the province to receive the batch of goods.
The beneficiaries will be responsible for checking the equipment's quality to ensure safety in medical check-ups and treatments for local people.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on June 19 approved additional financing from the French Development Agency's loan and non-refundable aid for the "Credit Programme for Water Supply" project.
The project will get a loan of 30 million euros instead of 20 million euros as initially planned and 2 million euros its non-refundable aid instead of 1.5 million euros.
The Viet Nam Bank for Development, who is in charge of implementing the project, will allocate the funds to water supply projects in the Mekong Delta.
The northern mountainous province of Yen Bai on June 22 held a ceremony to receive eight sets of remains of its volunteer soldiers from Laos.
Natives from Yen Bai Town, Tran Yen and Van Chan districts of Yen Bai Province, the soldiers died during the wars in Laos.
After the official hand over held by the Military Zone 4 Commander, the remains were reburied at martyrs’ cemeteries in the soldiers' home villages.
(Source: VNA) | 
