Health

Vietnam destroys books on gender selection to fight sex imbalance

Boys outnumber girls at a kindergarten in Ho Chi Minh City. The Vietnamese government, concerned that too many boys are being born, will destroy more than 30,000 copies of books instructing couples on how to have a baby of their desired sex, AFP reported Friday. The books include 27 titles and were seized last month,... Read more

Ministry reports 27 more H1N1 cases

The Health Ministry on Friday reported 27 more cases of influenza A (H1N1), raising Vietnam’s total to 208. Twenty-five of the cases were found in the south with the two others in the north.Three of the 25 patients detected with the virus in Ho Chi Minh City hadn’t gone abroad but had contacted people with the infection, the municipal Department... Read more

Rainy season could trigger dengue outbreak: ministry

Children under treatment for dengue fever at Children’s Hospital No. 1 in Ho Chi Minh City Friday The Ministry of Health has warned that the coming rains could bring about a resurgence in dengue fever as 26 people have already been killed by the mosquito-borne illness so far this year. Nguyen Huy Nga, head of... Read more

Vietnam seizes gender books to fight sex imbalance

Vietnam’s government has seized scores of locally published books on how to choose a baby’s gender as it faces a problem of boys outnumbering girls. Local newspapers said on Friday some 27 publications, which have been widely available in bookshops and on newsstands, were confiscated. Like in many Asian... Read more

Vietnam finds 15 more H1N1 cases

Health Minister Nguyen Quoc Trieu (R) visits Hanoi’s first influenza A patient early June. The Health Ministry on Thursday reported 15 more cases of influenza A virus raising the country’s total to 181. Thirteen of the cases were detected in the south, one in the north, and one in the central region.An... Read more

Vegetarian diet weakens bones: study

People who live on vegetarian diets have slightly weaker bones than their meat-eating counterparts, Australian researchers said Thursday. A joint Australian-Vietnamese study of links between the bones and diet of more than 2,700 people found that vegetarians had bones 5 percent less dense than meat-eaters, said lead researcher Tuan Nguyen.The issue was most... Read more

Vietnam’s research team in forefront of H1N1 fight

A researcher works at the examination center at Ho Chi Minh City Tropical Diseases Hospital A seven-member team has been working around the clock at the Ho Chi Minh City Tropical Diseases Hospital ever since the influenza A (H1N1) virus was discovered, looking for ways to fight it. As soon as the virus emerged in... Read more

H1N1 enters highly contagious phase

A security personnel officer stands next to a banner calling people to watch out for influenza A (H1N1) symptoms in front of the Health Ministry office in Jakarta Wednesday. A health ministry official has warned that the influenza A (H1N1) virus in Vietnam has started to become highly contagious, with a rapid increase in the... Read more

More violations found in drug advertisements: report

Several more violations of Vietnam’s drug laws have been discovered in drug advertisements across the country, according to the latest report from the Drug Administration of Vietnam (DAV). Head of the DAV, Truong Quoc Cuong, said most violations involved pharmaceutical companies advertising products without... Read more

Hospitals still slow, overcrowded as revamp project begins

Paperwork piles up at Ho Chi Minh City’s Tu Du Hosptial. Hospitals in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are crowded and service is slow after a Health Ministry program to improve patient care began last week. Tran Thuy Hanh, interim director of Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi, said two or three patients often shared sickbeds... Read more