Public health

Ho Chi Minh City will need VND13.5 trillion (US$602.678 million) more for its programme to improve water bodies, which started in 2001 with the aim of cleaning up all canals, the People’s Committee has said. Chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong said the money would be used for ...

As a Kandal village braces for an investigation into a cluster of HIV cases, the US Centers for Disease Control on 19 February published a new report on the now-infamous HIV outbreak in Battambang’s Roka commune, pointing to high demand for medical injections and a lack ...

A patient who has been confirmed to have swine flu is receiving treatment at Cambodia’s Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital, though hospital and Health Ministry officials on 20 February downplayed the significance of the case. A 2009 swine flu pandemic saw close to 500 people infected in Cambodia, with five ...

Fol­lowing the discovery of an apparent outbreak of HIV in Peam village, Kandal province, Cambodia, the head of the Ponhea Leu district referral hospital refuted accusations from infected residents that he was the source of the virus. Kouy Bunthoeun, director of the provincial health department, said ...

Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Narong Pipatanasai has approved budget disbursements for some projects under the Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth) after about 1.64 billion baht was earlier frozen due to suspected misspending. Adm Narong signed off on the budget allocation for some of the foundation’s projects ...

Health officials are drawing up plans to help protect Myanmar against the Zika virus. Dr Soe Lwin Nyein, director general of the department of public health, said earlier this week that nationwide guidelines would be issued soon. A symposium on Zika virus infection held at the ...

A new Cambodian maternal-health initiative is seeking to patch a persistent knowledge gap among new mothers by providing information via mobile phone alerts on optimal post-natal care during the first 1,000 days of a baby’s life. Cambodia’s national infant mortality rate, despite improvements, remains stubbornly high ...

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is drawing up additional regulations to raise the standards of car park safety barriers and to control the brightness levels on electronic billboards. Taiwut Khankaew, director of the BMA’s Building Control Division, said discussions were under way about the new regulations ...

The United States issued a warning on 12 February urging Americans to avoid a central Laos province popular with adventure travelers after a sudden spate of deadly bomb and gun attacks. Two roadside attacks killed three people last month in Xaisomboun province. Those attacks followed a series ...

Products of a popular Thai cosmetics brand were found to be “unfit for use,” according to an official announcement by Myanmar’s Ministry of Health on 10 February. “Two products of ‘Forever Young’ cosmetics were found to contain prohibited chemical ingredients that can harm people’s health and [we] ...