Dozens of children in Vietnam have been born to infertile parents under a program that pays for the costs of the expensive in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment for low-income couples who struggle to conceive naturally. The annual program, known as ‘Uom mam hanh phuc’ (Sowing Happiness), was launched in 2014 by Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong, who spearheaded the introduction of IVF treatment in Vietnam in the late 1990s. Each year, organizers select from hundreds of applications and provide financial as well as medical support to some dozen couples who need help the most. Selected couples are sponsored for all steps of a standard IVF treatment, which is a process of fertilizing an egg with sperm outside of the body. This treatment involves monitoring and stimulating a woman's ovulatory process, removing ova from the woman's ovaries, letting sperm fertilize them in a laboratory, and implanting the resultant embryo in the female’s uterus. A couple plays with their child born through in vitro fertilization sponsored by a program that supports infertile couples in Vietnam. Photo: Huu Thuan / Tuoi Tre According to Dr. Dang Quang Vinh, deputy director of My Duc General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City that provides the treatment, selected couples will have all their medical costs covered, including those of storing unused embryos, which can be accessed for future IVF attempts. Under this program, each couple can save up to VND80-100 million (US$3,500 - 4,300) per attempt. As of the time of writing, 80 children have been born to parents who underwent IVF treatment sponsored by the program, while six mothers are expected to give birth through IVF treatment soon. This year, on its fifth annual call for candidates, the program has received 621 applications from infertile couples from across the country and selected 167 satisfying all criteria laid out by the organizers. “As our funds are limited, we have no choice but to give priority to …
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VIETNAM NEWS HEADLINES MARCH 1
Vietnam logs no new COVID-19 infections on March 1 morning Vietnam documented zero COVID-19 infections in the past 12 hours as of 6:00 am on March 1, leaving the national tally unchanged at 2,448 patients, according to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control. Earlier, Vietnam reported 16 COVID-19 cases at 6pm on February 28, including 12 locally infected cases in the northern province of Hai Duong, the country's largest COVID-19 hotspot, and four imported cases in the southern provinces of Tay Ninh and Dong Thap. Of the total infections, there were 1,542 domestically-transmitted cases, including 849 recorded since the latest outbreak hit the northern province of Hai Duong on January 27. Ten cities and provinces nationwide have gone through 16 consecutive days without any locally-infected cases of COVID-19, including Hoa Binh, Dien Bien, Ha Giang, Binh Duong, Hung Yen, Bac Giang, Gia Lai, Bac Ninh, Quang Ninh, and Ho Chi Minh City. Meanwhile, Hanoi has recorded 14 straight days of no coronavirus cases. A total 60,693 people who came in close contact with COVID-19 patients or arrived from pandemic-hit areas are under quarantine nationwide, including 560 at hospitals, 12,298 at other quarantine sites, and 47,835 at home. Among patients under treatment, 62 have tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 once, 53 twice, and 95 thrice. Report from the Treatment Sub-committee showed that Vietnam has seen 1,876 recoveries so far. In a bid to live safely with the pandemic, people should strictly follow the Ministry of Health’s 5K message: khau trang (facemask), khu khuan (disinfection), khoang cach (distance), khong tu tap (no gathering), and khai bao y te (health declaration)./. Hai Duong dissolves COVID-19 treatment hospital No.1 Chairman of the Hai Duong provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duong Thai, who is also head of the provincial Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, on February 27 decided to …
Oxfam: Health spending in poor countries must double to prevent millions of deaths
Oxfam distributing hygiene kits to people in Yemen amid the coronavirus crisis. Photo: Wael Algadi Oxfam today called for a package of nearly $160 billion in immediate debt cancellation and aid to fund a Global Public Health Plan and Emergency Response and help prevent millions of deaths as a result of the coronavirus.The five-point plan of this Global Public Health Plan and Emergency Response would enable poor countries to take action to prevent the spread of the disease and build up the capacity of health systems to care for those affected. The pandemic has caused widespread suffering in rich countries, overwhelming some of the best healthcare systems in the world. However, with the disease now spreading to many poor countries where high levels of poverty and inequality threaten to accelerate the disease, the public health challenges are even greater. Nearly three billion people across the developing world do not have access to clean water, while millions more do not have access to adequate healthcare and live in crowded slums or refugee camps where social isolation is impossible. As women make up 70 per cent of health workers and carry out most unpaid care work, it will hit them the hardest. Jose Maria Vera, Oxfam International Interim executive director, said that in Mali there are three ventilators per million people. In Zambia, there is one doctor for 10,000 people. “We know from Oxfam’s experience of fighting Ebola that with rapid action, this disease can be stalled and its catastrophic impact stopped. But we must act now and, on a scale never seen before,” he said. “Without urgent, ambitious, and historic action, we could easily see the biggest humanitarian crisis since World War II.” The Imperial College London estimates that in the absence of intervention, the coronavirus could have led to 40 million deaths in the coming year. Oxfam calculates that doubling the health spending of the 85 poorest countries, home to nearly half of the world’s …
