Hiv infects mostly

People wait for medical examinations at the 175 Military Hospital in HCM City. (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNS/VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City targets to reduce the rate of hepatitis B virus infection in children under five years old to less than 0.5%, and prevent mother-to-child transmission of the hepatitis B virus by 2050. The southern city will strive to eliminate the transmission of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) that take place in health facilities and through blood transfusions, according to a plan on viral hepatitis prevention for the 2022-2025 period issued recently by the municipal People's Committee. It will also reduce the transmission of HBV and HCV among drug users, the transmission of hepatitis A virus (HAV) and hepatitis E virus (HEV) through the gastrointestinal tract, and cirrhosis of the liver, liver cancer, and death relating to viral hepatitis B and C. According to the World Health Organization, Vietnam is among the countries that … [Read more...] about HCM City sets targets for viral hepatitis prevention

Climate change is increasing malaria infections, the executive director of the world's biggest health fund said in Davos on Monday. Huge surges in malaria infections followed recent floods in Pakistan and cyclones in Mozambique in 2021, said Peter Sands, the executive director of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. "Whenever you have an extreme weather event it's fairly common to have a surge of malaria," he said at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos. The increase in extreme weather events, and the resulting large pools of standing water that attract mosquitoes, are leaving poorer populations vulnerable. He said climate change was also changing the geography of mosquitoes. The highlands of Africa, in Kenya and Ethiopia, are now succumbing to malaria because of a shift in the low temperatures that once made the area unsustainable for mosquitoes. Sands runs the world's largest global fund, which invests in fighting tuberculosis, malaria … [Read more...] about Davos 2023: Climate change leads to more malaria, tuberculosis up in a recession

The Hanoi elite citizen is not only known as a front-line health worker against the Covid-19 pandemic but a "hero" with a compassionate heart for HIV/AIDS patients. In more than 24 years of wearing a white coat, for Dr. Pham Ba Hien, 48, Director of Dong Da General Hospital, the greatest joy is to see his patients discharged safe and sound and back to normal life. Nearly three years have been a challenge for healthcare workers since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out. Hien who is bestowed an Elite Citizen of Hanoi in 2022 and other "soldiers in white coats" have dedicated themselves and sacrificed in silence to achieve a peaceful life for the population. Although the Covid-19 pandemic has been put under control in Hanoi, in the memory of the excellent doctor Pham Ba Hien, there remains lingering and indescribable emotion. It was a period of time when doctors and the health sector experienced many challenges due to the complicated evolution of the pandemic. Dr. … [Read more...] about A Hanoi elite citizen with 24 years caring for people’s health

Vietnamese values help me overcome difficulties Ms. Aurélia Nguyen, Chief Program Strategy Officer at the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) and former Managing Director of COVAX Facility, is one of the overseas Vietnamese delegates returning to Vietnam to attend the Homeland Spring Program 2023. She is also one of the nine typical overseas Vietnamese to receive the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee’s Certificate of Merit for her contribution to the overseas Vietnamese affairs and building and strengthening of the great national unity. Ms. Aurélia Nguyen is a second generation Vietnamese, who was "brought up with very strong family values" and aware of the importance of caring for each other. “My father was born and raised in Ho Chi Minh City, then went to study in France. I have so many things to thank my father and ancestors who gave me my Vietnamese heritage. My father taught me the value of hard-working spirit, worldview, faith, and solidarity … [Read more...] about Overseas Vietnamese’s sentiment for homeland

After three years of strict anti-virus controls, China abruptly abandoned its "zero Covid" policy in early December. Authorities said on Saturday nearly 60,000 people with Covid had died in hospitals between Dec. 8 and Jan. 12. Ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays, also known as the Spring Festival, which officially starts on Jan. 21, state media has been filled with stories of rural hospitals and clinics bolstering their supplies of drugs and equipment. "The peak of Covid infection in our village has passed, but the Spring Festival is approaching and there are still left-behind villagers, especially the elderly, at risk of secondary infection," a doctor in Shaanxi province said in an article by regional news outlet Red Star News. "If the anti-viral and other drugs were more abundant, I would be more confident," the doctor added. As well as fever drugs and oxygen supplies, China's National Health Commission has said it would equip every village clinic with pulse oximeters, … [Read more...] about Chinese city-dwellers head to hometowns as holidays raise Covid stakes

The lifting of restrictions coincides with a dramatic increase in infections and deaths due to the pandemic within the Chinese borders. In fact, official data showed infections last December to be the highest ever recorded for China since the start of the pandemic. Despite this, the World Health Organization thinks the risk of a new pandemic wave globally is minor, as the current COVID-19 variant in China apparently is a subtype of Omicron, for which most vaccines should be effective. Dr. Daniel Borer, Interim program manager of Global Business, RMIT Australia and Dr. Nuno F. Ribeiro, senior lecturer of Tourism and Hospitality, RMIT Vietnam Still, other experts warn that the virus could easily mutate within China into new variants, given that mass infections are expected to occur due to the massive travelling of the upcoming holidays. Currently, there is a lack of accurate and transparent data in China regarding infections and fatalities, making it unclear how dangerous … [Read more...] about Vietnam should act now to avoid pandemic resurgence

Gross domestic product (GDP) grew 2.9% in October-December from a year earlier, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Tuesday, slower than the third-quarter's 3.9% pace. The rate still exceeded the second quarter's 0.4% expansion and market expectations of a 1.8% gain. On a quarterly basis, GDP stalled, coming in at 0.0% in the fourth quarter, compared with growth of 3.9% in July-September. Beijing last month abruptly lifted its strict anti-virus measures that had severely restrained economic activity in 2022, but the relaxation has also led to a sharp rise in Covid cases that economists say might hamper near term growth. For 2022, GDP expanded 3.0%, badly missing the official target of "around 5.5%" and braking sharply from 8.4% growth in 2021. Other indicators for December such as retail sales and factory output, also released along with GDP data, beat expectations but were still weak. "Activity data in December surprised broadly to the upside, but … [Read more...] about China’s 2022 economic growth one of the worst on record, post-pandemic policy faces test

China’s COVID-19 policy had become untenable: the virus had spread to 170 cities, and new mandatory quarantines triggered protests from exasperated citizens. On December 26, China’s National Health Commission announced it would downgrade the response level. Border crossings to enter China without mandatory isolation are now once again permitted. Patrick Lenain, senior associate of the Council on Economic Policies This is good news for Vietnam, mostly. Chinese tourists will return, though not immediately. Trade flows across the border will operate more smoothly. But Vietnam will, once again, have to compete with Chinese provinces to attract foreign invested investment. The reopening of China differs from the reopening elsewhere. In other countries, including Vietnam, the population was vaccinated and immunised, so reopening meant it was safe to interact, socialise, and travel. People regained confidence, and economic activity jumped forward, especially in sectors that … [Read more...] about The return of China: mostly positive news for Vietnam

Randon, known as Sister Andre, was born in southern France on February 11, 1904, when World War I was still a decade away. She died in her sleep at her nursing home in Toulon, spokesman David Tavella said. "There is great sadness but... it was her desire to join her beloved brother. For her, it's a liberation," Tavella, of the Sainte-Catherine-Laboure nursing home, told AFP. The sister was long feted as the oldest European, before the death of Japan's Kane Tanaka aged 119 last year left her the longest-lived person on Earth. Guinness World Records officially acknowledged her status in April 2022. Randon was born in the year New York opened its first subway and when the Tour de France had only been staged once. She grew up in a Protestant family as the only girl among three brothers, living in the southern town of Ales. One of her fondest memories was the return of two of her brothers at the end of World War I, she told AFP in an interview on her 116th birthday. "It was … [Read more...] about World’s oldest known person dies aged 118: spokesman to AFP

Ba Den Mount Festival on the fourth day of Lunar New Year in Tay Ninh province. (Photo: dangcongsan.vn) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism has recently requested the Departments of Culture, Sports and Tourism in provinces and cities to ensure tourism activities on the occasion of the Lunar New Year (Tet). The administration said that people nationwide will have a long vacation, and international and domestic tourists are expected to increase so some tourism spots may be overcrowded. Therefore, the administration asked the Departments of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the provinces and cities to strengthen the management and inspection of the quality of tourism services, especially accommodation services, transport, travel activities, tour guides, catering in tourism attractions and entertainment facilities. The departments must coordinate with relevant agencies to ensure security and safety for tourists, promptly detect, prevent and … [Read more...] about Tourism activities must be organised sufficiently during Tet