VNA: DRUG ABUSE IN HO CHI MINH CITY AND HOA BINH

[bich dao <daotb@yahoo.com>]

FRANCE'S UNIVERSITY HELPS HOLD TRAINING 
COURSE ON
                             PHOTO-JOURNALISM 

                Ha Noi, Aug. 23 (VNA) -- A training course on 
photo-journalism was
             started in Ho Chi Minh City today (Aug. 23) by the Viet 
Nam Journalists'
             Association, the French Embassy and Lille University. 

                The course, the first of its kind held in the south, is

part of the
             long-term cooperation programme between the Viet 
Nam Journalists'
             Association and Lille University. 

                Prof. Jean Marc Vantournhoudt gives lessons at the 
course which
             sees the attendance of 15 journalists in southern 
provinces. 

                He earlier took charge of five other courses with the 
same purpose in
             Ha Noi and northern provinces.--VNA 
----------
VIET NAM TOPIC TAKES UP ASIAN ESPERANTO 
CONGRESS'S
                              3RD WORKING DAY 

                Ha Noi, Aug. 25 (VNA) -- Under the theme "Viet Nam 
Day", the
             ongoing Asian Esperanto Congress in Ha Noi entered 
its third working
             day on Aug. 24 focusing on Viet Nam's renovation 
progress and its
             external policies. 

                Huu Tho, member of the Communist Party of Viet 
Nam Central
             Committee and Director of its Commission for Ideology 
and Culture,
             said at the four-day congress that the fact that Viet Nam 
has managed
             to maintain its political stability and socio-economic 
growth amid the
             region's worst financial crisis has been a sign of its 
successful
             renovation efforts during the past 13 years. 

                While pushing the renovation process toward a 
multi-sectoral
             economy along the socialist line, he stressed, Viet Nam 
has also paid
             attention to developing its culture with a national 
identity. 

                The congress also heard a report by Pham Van 
Chuong, Deputy
             Director of the Party CC Commission for External 
Relations, on Viet
             Nam's foreign policy based on the principle of 
independence,
             sovereignty, openness and multilateralisation and 
diversification. Under
             this policy, Viet Nam wants to befriend all nations in 
the world striving
             for peace, independence and development, Chuong 
said. 

                The same day, Pham Loi Chairman of the Ha Noi 
People's Council,
             gave a reception in honour of the delegates to the 
congress. Speaking
             on this occasion, Loi highly valued the decision to 
convene the
             congress in Ha Noi, which has just been recognised as 
"City for Peace"
             by the United Nations' Educational, Scientific and 
Cultural Organisation.
             He wished the congress success, thus contributing to 
promoting the
             cooperative and friendly ties between Viet Nam and 
other nations in the
             world for peace, stability and development. 

                World Esperanto Association Chairman Kep Enderby 
and Asian
             Esperanto Movement Committee President Purama 
Chong both
             expressed thanks to the Vietnamese State and the Ha 
Noi
             administration for creating favourable conditions for the 
congress. 

                Also on Aug. 24, Nguyen Chi Vu, Chairman of the 
Viet Nam Union of
             Friendship Organisations, presented the Friendship 
Order on G.
             Kunosi and F. Olivan, Esperanto activists from Japan 
and Spain
             respectively, and the Friendship Medal on Lee Chong 
Yong from the
             Republic of Korea, for their contributions to the peace 
and
             independence movement in Viet Nam. 

                On this occasion, the Viet Nam Esperanto 
Organisation awarded
             Certificates of Honour to Kep Enderby, Purama Chong 
and other
             leaders of the Esperanto Movement, and the Friendship 
Banners to
             their international Esperanto organisations. 

                Nearly 500 delegates to the congress attended in a 
cultural exchange
             evening in Ha Noi on Aug. 24. 

                The congress is to close today, Aug. 25, after four 
days' sitting.--VNA 

-------------

DRUG ABUSE IN HO CHI MINH CITY AND HOA BINH 
PROVINCE 

                Ha Noi, Aug. 25 (VNA) -- The number of drug 
addicts in Ho Chi Minh
             City now stands at 16,798, 4,000 more than the 1998 
figure. Drug
             addicts under the age of 30 accounts for 70 percent of 
the city's total. 

                The Viet Nam Fatherland Front Committee in the city 
has conducted a
             survey on drug abuse and reviewed anti-drug prevention 
in 11 precincts
             and districts. 

                The committee has coordinated with the police, 
grassroots mass
             organizations and flat-dweller groups to raise people's 
awareness on
             the harm of drug abuse and measures to prevent and 
fight it. They have
             also organized campaigns to remove drug dens and 
intensify efforts in
             controlling drug abuse. 

                The committee has provided counselling for drug 
addicts, help them
             kick the habit and get jobs later. 

                - The Centre against Social Evil in the northern 
province of Hoa Binh
             has so far this year received 308 drug addicts for 
treatment. 

                Patients will stay in the centre for from three to 12 
months and will be
             provided with job training. 

                To date, 286 drug addicts were cured successfully at 
the centre. 

                The centre plans to receive more than 100 drug 
addicts from now to
             the end of the year.--VNA 






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