VN News (Apr. 21, 1997)

[Vu Thanh Ca <vuca@envi.env.civil.saitama-u.ac.jp>]

April 21: Vietnam: Coal Tunnels Collapse, Five Workers Killed
April 21: Vietnamese PM urges measures to halt domestic migration
April 21: Ho Chi Minh City to set up first hospital for HIV infected drug
addicts 
April 21: Shrimp farming helps reduce malaria in Vietnam 
April 21: Vietnam launches its first CD-ROM magazine about the country 
April 21: Hanoi warns against US "interference" ahead of ambassador's arrival 


Vietnam: Coal Tunnels Collapse, Five Workers Killed 

HANOI (AP)--Five coal miners in northern Vietnam were killed when two
mines collapsed in separate incidents, official reports said Monday.

Three miners suffocated when they were buried alive under coal and
earth after the tunnel they were excavating collapsed Thursday, the
state-controlled newspaper New Hanoi reported.

In a separate incident over the weekend, two other miners from the
same company were killed after another mine shaft in the same vicinity
caved in.

Both accidents occurred in northern Quang Ninh province, where coal
mining is one of the most important industries.

Rescue workers haven't recovered the bodies of the two men killed in
the second accident, the official Labor Union newspaper said.

Both tunnels collapsed after surrounding foundations had been weakened
by excessive digging in the area, both newspapers reported.

The lack of modern mining equipment has been blamed for a series of
mine shaft accidents, including collapses and explosions.

Dozens of miners are killed every year in Vietnam, labor statistics
indicate.
                 ___________________________________


Vietnamese PM urges measures to halt domestic migration

HANOI (AFP) - Vietnamese Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet has urged
solutions to curb increasing waves of migrants moving from northern
part of the country to provinces in the south, a report said Monday.

During a meeting with several senior government officials at the
government's office on Sunday Kiet ordered an immediate suspension of
the spontaneous migration of people from central and northern
provinces moving to highland provinces of Tay Nguyen, the Nhan Dan
daily reported.

According to figures provided by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development there have been 400,000 families resettling since the
beginning of the 1990s, drawn by greater land availability and the
promise of higher returns producing cash crops of coffee and tea.

Unexpected waves of migrants have given rise to many new problems for
these provinces including rising deforestation, environmental
pollution and social evils, the paper said.

Kiet also said the government is alarmed at the high rate of
deforestation in the central highlands resulting from the resettlement
of new farmers.
                 ___________________________________


Ho Chi Minh City to set up first hospital for HIV infected
drug addicts

HANOI (AFP) - Ho Chi Minh City's first hospital offering medical care
to HIV infected drug addicts is set to officially open on May 1, an
official said Monday.

Binh Trieu hospital, located at a former drug detention and prevention
centre is designated exclusively for drug addicts who have tested
positive for the Human Immuno-deficiency Virus, the hospital official
said.

Although the hospital will not officially open until next month it has
been used as a centre providing medical treatment to AIDS patients for
several years, he said adding that the hospital currently has some 40
patients.

The hospital does not provide care for outpatients as it has only 50
beds and it is now suffering a serious lack of doctors and staff.

This could be a major weakness, said one foreign AIDS worker who noted
that most AIDS-related care needs are for out-patients.

Most of its patients are suffering from opportunistic diseases, he
said, referring to AIDS-related illnesses.

The hospital earlier this month received some 360,000 dollars from
city authorities for new medical equipment, he said.

Vietnam has registered more than 5,000 cases of HIV-infection
nationwide, while official Ministry of Health estimates say there will
be between 60,000 and 100,000 cases nationwide at the end of 1997.

Most of those so far detected were among drug addicts and prostitutes
living in the south but 40 of Vietnam's 53 provinces now have reported
cases.

However, experts say these figures may be misleading as most official
testing for the virus has concentrated on these groups.

Jamie Uhrig, Project Officer of aids prevention group UNAIDS, said
detection rates are unrepresentative.

"This is just a tip of a shark's fin," he said, adding this was
typical for any epidemic. "People are not likely to get tested because
they don't see themselves at risk."
                 ___________________________________


Shrimp farming helps reduce malaria in Vietnam 

HANOI (AFP) - Researchers in Ho Chi Minh City have found a direct link
between shrimp farming and a reduction in malaria infections, the
World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.

Scientists from the Sub-Institute of Malariology in Ho Chi Minh City
found malaria mosquito larvae were not found where shrimp were grown
with mangroves or in ponds which use pumps to circulate water, the WHO
said in a media statement.

The discovery resulted from the observation that malaria cases fell 85
percent in coastal provinces in the Mekong delta where shrimp farming
was conducted in mangrove swamps, while other areas where shrimp was
farmed in stagnant ponds saw no decline in the number of cases.

The findings of the WHO could have important implications for rural
development, it said.

"The Vietnamese discovery of a possible link between good shrimp pond
management and malaria prevention is important not only to the Mekong
Delta, but throughout coastal areas in the tropics," the statement
said.

Last year in Vietnam 198 people died from malaria, down from 348
malaria fatalities in 1995, according to official statistics.

The number of malaria infected patients in 1996 was 532,860, down 20
percent from a year earlier.
                 ___________________________________


Vietnam launches its first CD-ROM magazine about the country 

Hanoi (dpa) - Vietnam's first CD-ROM ``magazine'' has been launched
aimed at keeping overseas Vietanmese up to date with developments in
their fast-changing homeland, producers said Monday.

The first CD has some 30 hours of video and text concerning many of
the country's tourism sites, and new trends in cultural, social and
economic fields, they said.

The first edition appeared this weekend in the Vietnamese language but
will eventually be available in English as well for foreigners
interested in keeping up with developments in the country.

``This is aimed primarily at Viet Khieu (Overseas Vietnamese) but also
local people.... through this new technology we can present much more
information than through videos,'' explained Viet Thanh, managing
editor of Saigon News, the producing company.

Saigon News, a firm owned by the Ho Chi Minh City authorities, has
been primarily involved in producing informational videos in the past.

Three thousand were produced for the first edition which was actually
stamped in Singapore although in the future a newly acquired CD line
will enable future editions to be made locally.

The appearance of the first edition was delayed six months from the
original launch date because of careful scrutiny by Communist Party
censors and customs officials, company officials said.
                 ___________________________________


Hanoi warns against US "interference" ahead of ambassador's
arrival 

HANOI (AFP) - Hanoi said Monday it would not lower its guard against
what it considers US interference in its internal affairs ahead of the
imminent arrival of Washington's first ambassador to be posted here
since the Vietnam War.

The Vietnamese Communist Party's Nhan Dan daily issued a stern warning
in an editorial to US broadcaster Voice of America (VOA) over its
critical reporting on a proposed massive road project connecting
Vietnam's north and south that is to be built by over a million
Vietnamese mobilised for the task.

Nhan Dan, which has increased its verbal attacks on the US
government-funded broadcaster, accused VOA of claiming Vietnam "would
do better if it started other infrastructure projects that would bring
faster benefits."

"VOA has intentionally forgotten an obvious truth: in all countries
building roads and infrastructure is an internal affair," it said,
adding "we do not know if VOA is concerned about Vietnam's poverty or
if it is worried about its power."

"What goal is this radio station pursuing if it always repeats
allegations of 'forced labour'?" asked the editorial.

The editorial lashed out at persons "who sought to distort the truth
to create division and doubt," adding they "could not hurt the
willingness of each Vietnamese to help build and develop the country."

Construction of the North-South highway is a politically sensitive
issue in Vietnam with Premier Vo Van Kiet throwing all his support
behind it, but some deputies of the National Assembly, which is
currently in session, have challenged its economic viablility.

Hanoi is preparing for the expected May arrival of recently-appointed
US ambassador Douglas "Pete" Peterson, a former prisoner of war in
Vietnam and the first US ambassador to be posted here since ties were
normalised 20 months ago.