Cervical cancer vaccine circulated in Vietnam

Cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil has been allowed to be circulated in Vietnam, said the Health Ministry’s Pharmaceutical Management Department.

Produced by Merck and Co. of the US, Gardasil is an intramuscular injection solution that helps prevent harm from human papilloma virus (HPV).

The vaccine will be given to girls and young women aged 9 between 26 at a cost of 1.9 million VND per injection. Each of them needs to receive three injections.

The Health Ministry has asked Gasdasil importers to make regular reports to authorised agencies on the importing, circulation and using process, especially the drug’s safety and efficiency in the country.

According to a survey conducted in the country over recent years, cervical cancer is a common female killer with 20.3 in every 100,000 people contracting the disease. The disease is easily found in women farmers and those who have sex and babies at early age or contract sexually transmitted diseases.

Vietnam has not yet had a systematic cervical cancer screening programme and only hospitals in big cities and provinces provide cell tests to detect the disease.-

Rubber exports likely to earn 1.5 billion USD this year

The rubber industry post an export revenue of over 600 million USD in the first six months of 2008 and expected to earn 1.5 billion USD for the entire year.

The expectation is well grounded on increasing prices of Vietnamese rubber in the world market and bumper harvests in large growing regions such as the Central Highlands , the southeast and central are enjoying.

Vietnam , the world’s fourth biggest rubber exporter, is selling its products at between 2,800 and 3,000 USD per tonne, bringing hopes for high incomes to farmers.–

Country sees lowest CPI increase in September

Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam’s consumer price index (CPI) rose only 0.18 percent, the lowest monthly increase since the beginning of the year, the General Statistics Office (GSO) reported.

As the result, t he country’s CPI soared an accumulated 21.87 percent against December 2007 and 22.76 percent over the same period last year.

CPI increases were seen in seven out of ten essential commodity groups, with cultural, sports and entertainment services experiencing the highest price hike of 1.45 percent, followed by educational services with 1.4 percent.

Especially, two groups of housing and construction materials and transportation and postal services, which saw sudden CPI rises in August, dropped 0.63 percent and 0.48 percent, respectively.

The gold prices declined 6.36 percent while the US dollar fell by 0.75 percent in September.

According to Nguyen Duc Thang, Deputy Director of the GSO’s Trade, Services and Price Department, the low September CPI was attributed to sharp decreases in rice and oil prices.

He said the country’s CPI may slightly increase in October because the Government is encouraging businesses to buy 400,000 tonnes of rice for export.-

87.6 million USD bridge to link Mekong Delta provinces

Tien Giang (VNA) – The Transport Ministry has approved a 1.49 trillion VND (87.6 million USD) project to build the My Loi bridge over the Soai Rap river, linking the Mekong delta provinces of Tien Giang and Long An.

In a working session on Sept. 22, the Transport Ministry and the two localities agreed to begin construction of the project in 2009.

The 1,390m-long bridge will be built on the National Highway route.

The project will be completed within 30 months of the start of construction and will still enable ships of up to 10,000 tonnes to enter the Soai Rap river.-

Overseas Vietnamese donates books to HCM City Institute

Mr Nguyen Tien Van, an overseas Vietnamese in Canada, has donated 18,200 books in different languages to the Ho Chi Minh City Institute of Social Studies.

The donation, including 17,393 social and science books, 591 dictionaries and 210 magazines, is a small part of Van’s private library in Canada.

Head of the Institute Phan Xuan Bien said that this is a useful material source for not only his institute but also researchers and scientists in the city.

The institute will establish an e-library after classifying these books, Bien said.-

Sweden helps Vietnamese flood victims

Hanoi (VNA) – Sweden has approved a humanitarian assistance worth 2.4 million SEK (roughly 358,000 USD) to support the project “Relief and Rehabilitation Support in Phu Tho province, Vietnam .”

Through Plan International Vietnam, the assistance will help the urgent needs of approximately 12,000 people – victims of the floods and landslides caused by storm Kammuri, which hit northern Vietnam in early August, said a press release issued by the Swedish Embassy on September 22.

The project, carried out from August 1, 2008 to September 30, 2009, will address the immediate nutritional needs of the vulnerable groups, including children under five, and minimise disruption of the education of primary and pre-primary school children affected by the floods.

It will also among other things rehabilitate and rebuild structures damaged by the storm in order to contribute to the protection of the health status of people at risk from contaminated drinking water supplies and ensure access to primary health care.

Short term livelihood opportunities through cash for work for the poorest households will also be provided, the press release said.-

Regional seminar to improve aftercare for addicts

Hanoi (VNA) – Representatives from 15 Asia-Pacific countries are attending a regional seminar and training course in Hanoi on Sept. 22, focusing on post-detoxification care for drug addicts.

The seminar is jointly organised by the National Committee for Drug, AIDS and Prostitution Control and the Colombo Plan Drug Advisory Programme (CPDAP).

According to the organising committee, the seminar and training course aims to help the Vietnamese learn from the experiences of other regional countries in implementing aftercare for treated drug addicts, in order to raise the efficiency and effectiveness of such work in Vietnam .

Foreign experts will also be reporting on new aftercare methods, the impact of drug abuse on drug addicts’ families and the community, detoxification activities and care for treated drug addicts at home.

During the seminar, which lasts until Sept. 25, participants will conduct a field tour of the Ba Vi Detoxification Centre in Hanoi.-

Diplomat receives Switzerland’s hon. PhD degree

Geneva (VNA) – The Business School of Lausanne (BSL) of Switzerland on September 20 presented the honourable PhD degree to Vietnamese diplomat Ngo Quang Xuan and former Swiss President Joseph Deiss on the occasion of the school’s 100 th founding anniversary.

Xuan served as Vietnamese Ambassador and Chief of the Permanent Mission of Vietnam to the UN, World Trade Organisation (WTO) and other international organisations in Geneva between 2003-2008.

He is now Vice Chairman of the Vietnamese National Assembly’s Committee for External Relation.

Speaking at the presenting ceremony, the school’s Rector Katrin Muff highly valued the former ambassador’s contributions to strengthening the multi-faceted cooperation between Vietnam and Switzerland during his tenure.

Also at the ceremony, Vietnamese student Ngo Pham Thuc Uyen received the Cup for the top student among 31 BSL graduates in 2008.

The Business School of Lausanne, a member of the Lemania Group of School, is the only university in Europe accredited by the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programmes (ACBSP).-

NA Standing Committee convenes 12th session

Hanoi (VNA) – The 12th session of the National Assembly (NA)’s Standing Committee opened in Hanoi on Sept. 22 with the attendance of State Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan.

Opening the event, NA Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong said the committee will focus on giving opinions about 12 draft laws, the legislature’s law-making schedule for 2009 and adjustment of this year’s law-making plan.

Full-time deputies will hear the government’s report on the construction of the NA House and the NA Office’s report on preparations for the NA’s upcoming 4th session.

They will also make recommendations to reformed ways to conduct the legislature’s 4th session and mull over a resolution regarding amendments and supplements to functions and tasks of the NA’s Committee for People’s Aspiration.

On Sept. 22 morning, the deputies gave opinions on reports presented by the government and the Standing Committee’s supervision delegation on implementation of laws and policies related to capital investment allocated from the state budget at ministries, sectors and localities from 2005-2007.

The committee is scheduled to make recommendations to a draft law on public debt management on Sept. 22 afternoon.-

Vietnam to strengthen ties with Estonia

Hanoi (VNA) – The visiting Estonian Deputy Foreign Minister Matti Maasikas and his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Quoc Cuong have met to discuss ways to strengthen ties between the two nations in the areas of politics, economics, trade and investment.

During their talks, held in Hanoi on Sept. 22, the two deputy FMs exchanged views on various international and regional issues and expressed their determination to further the two foreign ministries’ bilateral ties.

Deputy FM Cuong took the occasion to thank Estonia for its vote against the European Commission (EC)’s imposition of an anti-dumping tax on Vietnam ’s leather-capped shoes in 2006.

Cuong also proposed that Estonia continue supporting Vietnam and lobby the EC to remove, rather than review its anti-dumping tax levied on Vietnamese leather-capped shoes.

He asked Estonia to recognise Vietnam as a market economy and to work together with Vietnam in its cooperative relations with the European Union (EU).

“ Vietnam is willing to assist Estonia in expanding its relations with other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN),” said Deputy FM Cuong.

During his working visit to Vietnam from Sept. 20-23, Estonian Deputy FM Maasikas will be working alongside leaders of the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade.-