Emergency funding for low income families

A report by Hanoi People's Committee on June 20 revealed 532 medical personnel had quit last year, while 82 decided to switch workplaces. In the first four months of this year, 226 have quit and 17 switched workplaces, the report added. Hanoi said the medical field has focused all its resources on fighting the pandemic since 2020. Due to the low number of workers, the sheer amount of workload and lower incomes and benefits in public facilities, many are opting to quit or seek better opportunities. Hoa, the former head of a ward medical station in Dong Da District, said her workload was too much while her salary wasn't enough to make a living. She quit at the end of March. During the height of the pandemic, Hoa and her colleagues did contact tracing and vaccination day in and day out. Pressure was building up, yet they only got a "bonus" of VND500,000 ($21.50). Her colleagues, a married couple, only got VND8 million a month in total. Amid a worker exodus in the medical field and … [Read more...] about Hanoi health workers quit in droves over heavy workload, low pay

Rice harvesting in Vũ Thư District of Thái Bình Province. — VNA/VNS Photo Thế Duyệt THÁI BÌNH­ — Thái Bình Province, dubbed the 'hometown of rice', has many advantages in rice production thanks to the natural conditions, climate, irrigation infrastructure and high level of intensive farming. However, large-scale production and building a Thái Bình rice brand for export are still facing many difficulties. Production is not currently commensurate with the inherent potential. Currently, the province is the locality with the second-largest cultivated rice area in the Red (Hồng) River Delta region, with an area of nearly 150,000 hectares with an output of over 1 million tonnes per year. Instead of using the traditional farming methods, Thái Bình farmers have boldly applied scientific and technical advances in production to free up labour and improve productivity. In recent years, the local farmers have been growing high-quality rice varieties with an average planting area of … [Read more...] about ‘Rice hometown’ Thái Bình Province strives to enhance rice quality, branding

Binh Tran and Eddie Thai, co-founders & general partners of Ascend Vietnam Ventures Binh Tran and Eddie Thai, co-founders & general partners of Ascend Vietnam Ventures, have been investing together in Vietnam since 2015 and have backed home-grown international successes such as NFT gaming unicorn Axie Infinity, AI-driven edtech ELSA, and financial inclusion fintech Trusting Social. With AVV Alpha, the team has increased their investments in startups in Vietnam, seeding up to $2 million into 25 startups by next year and following on with checks of up to $5 million. “The likes of Axie Infinity, ELSA, and Trusting Social are by no means isolated successes,” said Binh Tran. “Vietnam’s dynamism, accessibility, low cost of living, as well as abundant quality engineering talent attract many founders. On top of that, many tech solutions built here can address similar challenges and customer behaviours in other emerging markets worldwide. Vietnam will continue to be seen as … [Read more...] about Ascend Vietnam Ventures surpasses $50 million target

Since April stores and retailers in the area have gradually been running out of formula. To feed her 10-month-old son, Hien has been visiting Target, Walgreens and other stores far away from home, some even two hours away, only to find shelves that used to be filled with formula bare. Last weekend the 28-year-old rushed to a pharmacy 30 minutes away from her home in Anaheim, California State, after a friend called to tell her she saw it stocking baby formula. Fortunately, she was able to get one small tin. "But it is only enough to feed my baby for a week," Hien, who has difficulties breastfeeding, lamented. "I feel helpless when I can't even get the most basic product to keep my baby fed and nourished." There is similar frustration throughout the country as a baby formula shortage grips the U.S. Formula is the only option for many parents, who cannot produce enough milk to meet their child's requirements. Others choose not to breastfeed due to pain or discomfort, while … [Read more...] about Vietnamese in US grapple with baby formula shortage

Vietnam will keep a close eye on the emergence of new strains. Vietnam has detected imported BA.5 Omicron sub-variant after conducting gene sequencing of newly confirmed patients' samples, according to Dr. Phan Trong Lan, director of the General Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health (MoH). Lan underscored that initial research showed the Omicron sub-lineages BA.4 and BA.5 spread faster than the old sub-variants (BA.1 and BA.2). There has been no specific evidence of the new sub-variants’ virulence, but some studies indicated that there is an aggravation in the African region. However,  the director confirmed that Omicron sub-variant BA.2 still remains the dominant one in the country. “The emergence of new strains is inevitable as a result of border reopening and the new normal situation, in which precautionary protocols are relaxed,” Lan said. He added that the BA.5 sub-variant was first detected in South Africa in January. Since then, it has … [Read more...] about BA.5 Omicron sub-variant detected in Vietnam

Administering the fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine to medical staff in the northern province of Ninh Bình. — VNA/VNS Photo Hải Yến HÀ NỘI — If Việt Nam declares the end of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, it will meet many difficulties in pandemic prevention and control and be hit by slower economic recovery, the Ministry of Health (MoH) has said. Under the latest draft plan on COVID-19 prevention and control in the new situation, which is waiting for input from the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 prevention and control, ministries, provinces, cities and experts, the MoH said that the pandemic situation has basically been controlled nationwide. However, the pandemic situation is still complicated in many countries and is even increasing again in some. The virus is constantly changing and recording new variants, which could potentially cause a strong outbreak on a large scale, beyond the health system’s capacity. Latent risks The SARS-CoV-2 virus has constantly … [Read more...] about Ministry of Health explains reasons for not announcing end of COVID-19 pandemic

Tôn Thanh Trà, General Director of Chợ Rẫy-Phnom Penh Hospital, gives a health check-up to a patient at the hospital in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. — VNA/VNS Photo HÀ NỘI — One evening, doctors at Chợ Rẫy-Phnom Penh Hospital received a red alarm from the Emergency Department. A female patient had arrived in the emergency room in a state of confusion. She had trouble speaking and paralysis on the right side of the body. After examination and the necessary tests, doctors diagnosed the patient as suffering a stroke caused by atrial fibrillation and tachy-brady syndrome. After consultation, it was decided the patient needed a permanent pacemaker. The surgery was performed that night. It was incredibly successful. The patient was in stable health condition and discharged from the hospital four days later, to the joy of family and relatives. This was one of the thousands of timely life-saving cases that Vietnamese doctors successfully performed at the Chợ Rẫy- Phnom Penh Hospital in … [Read more...] about Vietnamese doctors gain Cambodian people’s trust

Vietnam earned a score of 78.49 to rank 62 out of 165 countries and territories included in 2021 World’s Best Countries For Quality of Life recently released, moving up its ranking of 101st out of 171 countries in the previous edition. The ranking was determined based on 10 key categories: affordability, economic stability, family-friendly, a good job market, income equality, political neutrality & stability, safety, cultural influence, well-developed public education system and well-developed public health system. Each attribute was graded on a 100-point scale. Compared to Southeast Asia peers, Vietnam lags behind Singapore (19th place), Thailand (38th), the Philippines (39th), Malaysia (41st) and Indonesia (58th), though ranking above Myanmar (101st), Cambodia (111th) and Timor-Leste (149th). Laos was not included in the report. Finland tops the list with 99.06 points. Denmark and Norway each earned an overall score of 98.13 and 96.75 to complete the global top three. … [Read more...] about Vietnam leaps up global quality of life ranking

"Covid-19 vaccination is a requirement in the pandemic fight. As such, people need to get vaccinated as per existing regulations and at the right doses. The fact that localities are requesting people to sign forms to ‘take responsibility’ is to show their responsibility to the people," Phan Trong Lan, head of the General Department of Preventive Medicine, told press Monday. The statement was made as Covid-19 vaccination was slowing down in several regions, with many people refusing to get booster shots since they've already developed certain degrees of immunity from their previous shots and Covid-19 infections. The Ministry of Health has requested southern Vietnam localities to use up all their distributed vaccine doses before June ends, adding that people must sign forms to "take responsibility" if their decision not to get vaccinated causes an outbreak. The ministry however did not respond to the press regarding whether its decisions were based on any basis or precedents. Lan … [Read more...] about Covid vaccination refusal must be confirmed in print: official

A low-pressure area in the East Vietnam Sea strengthened into a tropical depression early on Wednesday morning and is forecast to become a storm in the next two to three days. As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, the tropical depression was located 500 kilometers east of Vietnam's Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago, according to the National Center for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting. The average wind speed was recorded at 40-50km per hour, while gusts reached up to 75km an hour. The tropical depression is expected to travel northwest in the next 48 hours and pick up strength. By 7:00 am on Friday, it will have been located around 350 kilometers northeast of Hoang Sa, packing winds of 50-60km per hour. It will continue traveling in the northwest direction in the next 48-72 hours and develop into a tropical storm. Due to the effect of the tropical depression, strong winds, rough seas, and waves as high as two to four meters will be recorded in the northern part of the East Vietnam Sea … [Read more...] about Tropical depression appears in East Vietnam Sea