Tackling health inequities through public health practice

  A dental exhibition at the HCM City Society of Dental Implantology conference on Saturday offered opportunities for attendees to access the newest and best equipment, instruments and materials in dentristy. — VNS Photo Gia Lộc HCM CITY — The dentistry profession is facing the challenge of integrating the most advanced treatment modalities into comprehensive oral health care practice, Dr Hoàng Trọng Hùng, secretary general of HCM City Odonto-Stomatological Association, said at a recent conference held in HCM City. Comprehensive oral treatment plans for patients in the digital age remain a big challenge for dental practitioners, he added. Dr Phạm Khắc Tân, clinical director of Koseikai Dental Clinic in the city's District 1, said: “Digital dentistry has been opening opportunities but also creating many challenges for clinical dentists and lab technicians, including how … [Read more...] about Comprehensive oral health care vital for dental patients

The three-day-old girls, each weighing three kilograms, underwent preliminary tests before being vaccinated by doctors of the Tay Bac General Hospital, a provincial public hospital. A few hours after the vaccination, the twins started to exhibit unusual symptoms. One died on the same day, while the other died the day after. Their cause of death was determined to be respiratory and circulatory failure due to a rare congenital metabolic disorder, said officials from Nghe An Department of Health and doctors from the Vietnam National Hospital of Pediatrics on Wednesday. The hospital reported that 16 other babies receiving shots from the same batch on the same day are normal. Children’s death after vaccination is not unheard of in Vietnam. In January, a two-month-old baby in Hanoi died a day after being injected with ComBE Five, a vaccine against diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type B. It was said later that her death was caused by … [Read more...] about Twins die after Hepatitis B vaccination

All water samples taken October 16-21 have styrene levels within standards prescribed by the Ministry of Health, said Vu Dang Dinh, the spokesman of the committee. Tap water samples will continue to be taken from Thanh Xuan, Hoang Mai, Nam Tu Liem, Cau Giay, Hoai Duc, Dan Phuong, Thach That and Quoc Oai districts until the end of October, and their results publicized in local media, Dinh said. He also said that the city will continue to provide clean water in tankers and containers for citizens who demand it. The Vinaconex Water Supply Join Stock Company (Viwasupco) has been asked to supply water free of charge until the end of the month. Viwasupco would also need to install automatic monitoring systems to continually monitor water quality at its sources, review its treatment process and build its own reservoir for sourced water, Dinh added. Hoang Trung Hai, the city's Party chief, said Tuesday that Hanoi still lacks water quality monitoring systems, causing the city to react slowly to … [Read more...] about Hanoi declares water supply safe for consumption

Tran Quang Hung, a former deputy head and general secretary of the Vietnam Water Supply and Sewerage Association, told VnExpress: "In Hanoi, the protection of water sources is uncoordinated. Unlike many other cities, Hanoi's system of water distribution is too fragmented, with many companies handling the task [independently]. So when something happens, one company's supply network cannot support another company's." Hung said the southern metropolis Ho Chi Minh City supplies water through the Saigon Water Company (Sawaco). This company uses its own water sources and also buys water from other water supply firms to distribute it to the entire city, which is beneficial to both the public and other water companies. "When the private sector gets to supply water, it only cares about profit and does not innovate technologies or protect water sources," Hung said. The recent oil contamination of Hanoi's water supply was, for instance, due to low-quality pipes and poor management, he pointed … [Read more...] about Fragmented Hanoi water supply system cannot respond to crises, former official says

At 8 a.m. on Monday, a bird’s eye view shows smog giving Hanoi the look of a ghost city. Hours earlier, at 4 a.m., AirVisual recorded Hanoi’s air quality index (AQI) at 385 - the highest level the city has witnessed this month. AirVisual measures Hanoi's air quality based on 10 monitoring stations run by Hanoi authorities and four by non-profit organizations. However, this result is vastly different compared to the AQI recorded by the automatic monitoring systems in Hanoi installed at various spots, which ranged from 147 – 162. AirVisual showed the AQI on Nguyen Chi Thanh Street at 302 at 8 a.m., but Hanoi's monitoring station on Thanh Cong Street (1.2 km away) had it at 150. The AQI, a metric used by multiple governmental agencies to determine how polluted the air is, ranges from 0 to 500, where high index values indicate higher levels of air pollution and higher potential for adverse health effects. Children, seniors and individuals with … [Read more...] about Hanoi air pollution goes from very bad to much worse