Health Ministry plans 1.5mil free doses of swine flu vaccine

Health Ministry plans 1.5mil free doses of swine flu vaccine

QĐND – Friday, October 30, 2009, 20:48 (GMT+7)

Deputy health minister Trinh Quan Huan said on October 29 that the ministry is about to submit to the government a plan to vaccinate around 500,000 highly-risk individuals against A/H1N1.

Huan said at first, free vaccination will be provided to 500,000 people, including pregnant women, those suffering chronic diseases and, healthcare workers treating A/H1N1 patients in some provinces and cities with high numbers of swine flu cases like Hanoi and HCM City. 

Nguyen Tran Hien, director of the Central Epidemiology Institute, said these people have to show documents proving their health conditions. 

Besides the above 500,000 vaccine doses, the World Health Organisation (WHO) will also supply Vietnam 1 million doses, although the date is yet to be fixed, Huan announced. 

Vietnam only permits the import of vaccines that are recommended by the WHO, which have been used safely in the US and Europe. 

GSK will start to import A/H1N1 vaccine to Vietnam from  December 2009. 

Source: VietNamNet/Tuoi Tre 

Source: QDND Bookmark & Share

Workers shun free bus services

Amata and Bien Hoa 2 IZs had just 26,000 passengers in 2 months.

Free bus services in the Amata and Bien Hoa 2 industrial zones in southern Dong Nai Province’s Bien Hoa City have failed to attract workers after two-month pilot operations. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Phan

DONG NAI — Free bus services in the Amata and Bien Hoa 2 industrial zones in southern Dong Nai Province’s Bien Hoa City have attracted only 26,000 passengers in the first two months of the pilot operation, according to the provincial Department of Transport.

The department said it was a modest amount compared to the estimated 100,000 workers operating in the province’s two biggest industrial zones.

After two months into the pilot operation, the department said its 12 11-seat coaches running 4km from the industrial parks’ gates to their inner factories and companies had never been full.

Nguyen Van Vui, a worker at the Namyang Company in Amata Industrial Zone, said he preferred using his own motorbike because his rented room was quite far from work with no bus route between the two places.

“We don’t even mind paying for the services, but it should be expanded to connect the industrial zones with other areas that have large numbers of workers,” he said.

A worker at the Teawangvina Company in Bien Hoa 2 Industrial Zone, Nguyen Thanh Nhan, said: “I was pleased to hear about the free bus services, but they are not helpful at all due to their short routes.”

A driver of the route within the industrial zone said almost all workers found the services’ management procedures complicated and had not received accurate information about the services.

“We are required to note down passengers’ IDs,” he said. “But right after being asked for IDs, they get off the bus because they are afraid that their wages will be deducted, even though the services are totally free of charge.”

The provincial Transport Department director, Nguyen Van Diep, said the services had been operating for only two months, which explained the shortcomings.

“We are making efforts to encourage workers to use the free bus services because they help workers save time and money, and it also reduces transport costs and prevents traffic jams within the industrial zones during rush hours.”

“Besides providing workers with more information on the services, we will adjust the routes after three months of the pilot operation,” Diep said. “Formalities to use the services will also be simplified.”

Deputy director of the department, Tran Van Quang, said the department was considering to re-route the bus services and ask for more assistance from the provincial People’s Committee to expand the routes, enabling workers to travel more conveniently.

“We will consider the feasibility of the services then expand them in the other 27 industrial zones in the province,” he added.

The department reported that there was an average of 156 passengers in the Amata Industrial Zone and 292 in Bien Hoa 2 Industrial Zone using the free bus services daily. —

Source: vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn

Banks to free up consumer lending

HCM CITY — After several months of tightening up on consumer credit as a hedge against inflation, commercial banks are becoming more willing to provide individual loans.

Asia Commercial Bank deputy director Nguyen Thanh Toai said his bank has earmarked VND2 trillion (US$120 million) for consumer loans, out of the VND15 trillion ($900 million) in capital it has available for lending through the end of the year.

If demand for such loans – including home purchase and improvement loans – is higher, the bank would increase its lending, Toai said.

Lien Viet Bank general director Nguyen Duc Huong said his bank was also targeting new customers for consumer loans, including State employees and individuals looking to buy or repair homes.

VP Bank, Eximbank, Techcombank and Military Bank have all announced similar intents, including programmes to promote loans through retailers. Only the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV) said it would limit loans made to finance the purchase of luxury goods.

The head of the State Bank of Viet Nam’s Department for Banking Strategy, Le Xuan Nghia, said consumer lending in Viet Nam had enormous potential, and it was now time to spur consumer lending as economic growth was slowing down and controlling inflation could no longer be viewed as the top priority.

But Military Bank deputy director Le Cong cautioned against the risk of bad loans.

“Borrowers should be selected thoroughly, and they must be ‘eligible” borrowers who are able to pay back loans,” Cong said.

Commercial banks often face high risks with consumer lending because such loans are often made against inadequate collateral. Lenders in Viet Nam also lack reliable data on borrowers’ credit records of repaying past loans from other credit institutions.

Take care

Asset appraisal needed to be done carefully before banks decide to give any loans, VP Bank general director Le Dac Son said.

At the end of September, outstanding consumer loans at commercial banks stood at VND79.7 trillion ($4.8 billion), accounting for only 6.54 per cent of total outstanding loans, according to the State Bank of Viet Nam.

Outstanding personal loans per-capita nationwide stood at about VND921,000 ($55), a low figure compared to average annual income per capita of VND17 million ($1,000).

In addition, despite commercial banks offering more individual loans, high interest rates have scared off many customers, experts say.

But commercial banks cut various dong interest rates last week by as much as 2 percentage points, bringing average commercial lending rates down to 15-18 per cent per year. —

Australia seeks free trade deal with ASEAN

– Australia is hopeful of an early conclusion to a regional free trade agreement (FTA) with intensive negotiations underway, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith has said.

The potential deal between Australia , New Zealand and Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) was discussed at bilateral talks between FM Smith and his Indonesian counterpart Hassan Wirajuda in Jakarta early this week, according to local media.

“I look forward to the early conclusion to current negotiations on a comprehensive free trade agreement between Australia, New Zealand and ASEAN,” the Australia minister was quoted by The Age as saying on August 11.

In the lead-up to the target date of concluding negotiations at the ASEAN Economic Ministers – Closer Economic Relations Ministerial in Singapore on August 28, Australia is involved in intensive bilateral negotiations with key ASEAN countries to finalise tariff and services schedules, he said.-

ASEAN, India conclude free trade talks

– Negotiations over an ASEAN-India free trade deal have been concluded and the last obstacles have been removed, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) secretary general Surin Pitsuwan has said.

The two sides concluded negotiations and the pact is expected to be signed in December on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Bangkok , the ASEAN chief was quoted by news agencies as saying.

The agreement covering billions of USD in trade but not services between the 10 ASEAN members and India was supposed to have been concluded last year.

But talks became bogged down by differences over products which India wanted excluded from tariff cuts.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.-

Japan-Brunei Free Trade Agreement takes effect

A free trade agreement between Japan and Brunei took effect on July 31 to eliminate tariffs on 99.9 percent of bilateral trade in 10 years.

”We shared the view that the agreement will contribute to enhancing the cross-border flow of goods, services and investment between the two countries, ensuring the stable supply of energy and improving the business environments of both Japan and Brunei,” Kyodo News quoted a joint statement by the two countries as saying.

The FTA is expected to ensure a stable supply of natural gas and other energy to Japan as the two countries will discuss energy-related issues under the agreement.

Among other stipulations of the accord, Japan will immediately eliminate tariffs on almost all industrial imports from the resource-rich Southeast Asian country.

Japanese tariffs on agricultural and fishery products from Brunei, such as asparagus, mangos, durian and shrimp, will be eliminated immediately as well.

Brunei will get rid of the current 20 percent tariff on cars and almost all auto parts from Japan within three years.

The FTA also calls on the two countries to promote cooperation in broader fields such as trade and investment, information and communications technology, agriculture, and the environment.-

Fund launched to offer children free milk

About 50,000 Vietnamese poor children across the country will be provided free milk as part of the “one million milk glasses” fund for poor children, launched in Hanoi on June 30.

The project, initiated by Vietnam Fund for Children and Vinamilk, will ensure the distribution of 20 free milk boxes to each child in 14 cities and provinces nationwide in July and August.

The programme, to which Vinamilk committed products worth at least 3 billion VND (nearly 180,000 USD), is expected to become an on-going event in the near future.

Addressing the launch, Minister of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan said she expected to receive support from domestic and international organisations for the fund’s extension in a bid to help reduce the rate of under-five children malnutrition to below 20 percent by 2010.

One in three Vietnamese children under fivesuffers from stunted growth is stunted while one in five is underweight, according to the National Nutrition Institute’s 2007 report.

Milk usage per capita in Vietnam is among the lowest in the region and world. A Vietnamese drinks an average of 6 litres of milk a year, compared to 22 litres in Thailand and 26 litres in China.