The reduction in food poisoning incidents has been attributed to educational efforts by the health sector and the media in the lead up to Tet that warned about the dangers of unhygienic practices, said Dr Nguyen Kim Son from the Bach Mai General Hospital.

“Before Tet, we received between 12-16 patients per day, of which 4-6 patients were diagnosed with food poisoning. And no patients were admitted in the first days of the Lunar New Year due to food poisoning, Mr Son said.

However, he cautioned that the cases of food poisoning are likely to rise after Tet. He added that people should be more careful with fake, mixed and low quality alcohols.

The Director of the Viet Duc General Hospital, Nguyen Tien Quyet, said the number of traffic accident casualties has increased dramatically, making up 91 percent of the total emergency cases over Tet at a daily average record of 220 patients.

Many people have suffered brain injuries for drinking and not wearing helmets.

The Traffic Police Department reported over 400 traffic accidents (road and rail) nationwide over the six-day holiday in which 300 died and 426 were injured, an increase of nearly 100 percent over the previous year.

VNS