Exposure to high amounts of toxic coumarin, found in smuggled cigarettes coming into the country in recent years, raises the risk of several birth defects or even miscarriage, health experts warn.

A workshop on benefits of contraception was held in Hanoi on September 26 in response to World Contraception Day to raise public awareness of contraception and prevent unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortion.

 It is crucial to mainstream women’s participation in Inclusive Business whether they are consumers, producers, workers and distributors,  a Vietnamese official said, noting that APEC can benefit much from the initiative because women’s full potentials will be tapped.

The Prime Minister has assigned the Ministry of Industry and Trade to continue with the review of hydropower planning in Central Highlands provinces in line with the PM’s dispatch 391/CD-TTg dated March 16 this year. 

 Over 30 million poor households and other welfare beneficiaries have accessed soft loans from the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) as of the end of August 2017, according to the VBSP.

Vietnam is in the ‘golden population period’ with a high number of working-age people, expected to last from 2010 to 2040. However, the quality of the labor force is not ‘golden’, say experts. 

The Vietnam Culinary Conservation, Research and Development Center opened recently in Ho Chi Minh City to research and introduce Vietnamese food, and train chefs for restaurants and hotels to support local tourism development.

Graduates from overseas universities tend to require higher salaries than the average level, even though they don’t have much working experience.

VOV.VN - Typhoon Doksuri that has hit central Ha Tinh province blew off the roof of 70,000 local houses, stores and school buildings, submerged more than 3,100ha of aquaculture areas and seriously damaged electric and communications systems.

The number of new dengue fever cases in Hanoi has dropped in the last few weeks, according to the city’s Department of Health on September 25.

VOV.VN - A child from the Central Highlands city of Buon Ma Thuot died after being affected with Japanese B encephalitis, said a local health official.

The Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) and the Central Union of Cuban Workers (CTC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on specific activities to promote the bilateral relations.

10 construction workers fled the site the moment they noticed the building listing.

The transport department of Ho Chi Minh City has approved a VND429 billion (US$18.9 million) road to ease chronic congestion on streets leading to Cat Lai Port.

Public hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City will be allowed to employ doctors and other health staff members without the city’s household registration book starting in November, helping them solve a shortage of medical staff, according to the city Department of Health.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam has urged greater efforts to  develop healthcare establishments  for the elderly at grassroots level while issuing policies to uphold their role in society. 

A project on enabling intellectual property (IP) environment funded by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) will be implemented in Vietnam from 2018 to 2022 with the aim to develop intellectual assets and technological advances in the country.

Hanoi streets are getting a facelift: authorities have begun paving degraded streets with natural stone as part of a project to beautify the city and improve safety for walkers and drivers.

Japanese doctor Nagato Natsume has been appointed as Honorary Consul of Vietnam in Nagoya city of Aichi prefecture.

 Vietnam wants to learn from Hungary’s experience in developing information-technology (IT) policies in the context of the fourth industrial revolution, said Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan. 

VOV.VN - Two girls of a family were killed in an early morning fire (September 25) in the district of Chuong My, Hanoi, reported local officials.

High investment costs and low parking fees have made investors less interested in building automated car parking lots in Ho Chi Minh City, experts said at a recent workshop.

Ho Chi Minh City’s Youth Social Work Centre is organising entertainment programmes for children, especially disadvantaged kids on the outskirts of the city and the provinces of An Giang, Tay Ninh and Binh Phuoc to enjoy the Mid-autumn Festival which falls on October 4 this year.

The Overseas Vietnamese Association in Vientiane in collaboration with the Vietnamese Embassy in Laos launched a fund-raising campaign on September 24 to support victims of natural disasters in the two countries.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 2.5 on the Richter scale was reported at the adjacent area between Quynh Nhai and Tua Chua districts in the north-western provinces of Dien Bien and Son La on September 24.

The daily lives of some 500 households have been disrupted and 600ha of protective forest lost due to landslides on the nearly 70km seashore of the Mekong Delta’s Kien Giang Province in recent years, with climate change blamed for the landslides.

Highly skilled doctors in Vietnam using advanced prostheses and techniques have improved the quality and success rate of hip replacement surgery to a level as high as that of other countries.

 The new emergency telephone number for child protection, 111, is expected to become operational in December.

A tropical low pressure system is developing at sea south of Ca Mau and Kien Giang provinces, the National Hydrometeorological Center warned on September 23.

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