Free HCMC Clinic Succors Poor Patients

Nam Thanh Thanh That Clinic in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1 is a familiar destination for poor patients. Its physicians treat them for free using traditional medicines.

Doctors of Nam Thanh Thanh That is examing poor patients.
When Sai Gon Giai Phong's reporter visited it, there were 10 patients standing in line to get treatment from the doctors.
Nam Thanh Thanh That , established in 1993, works three days a week.
Two years ago Nguyen Thi Hoang of District 1 had a surgery on her ovary. The poor woman did not have enough money for postoperative treatment.
She found out about this clinic from an acquaintance and went there to receive traditional medicines. She is now recovering and has not suffered any side-effects from the drugs.
Tran Cong Hoa from the same district told Sai Gon Giai Phong's reporter he had hypertension in 2004 and was paralyzed. Upon some neighbors’ advice, his family brought him to Nam Thanh Thanh That. After taking medicines for a year, he recovered and his family continued to take him to the clinic for physiotherapy.
Since he found it very hard to move, clinic's physicians also visited his house to provide acupuncture treatment.
Since the beginning of this year has improved so much that he now visits the clinic regularly to help other poor patients.
Followers of Cao Dai – A religion founded in Viet Nam -- have donated VND120 million (US$7,000) this year to the clinic to collect medicinal herbs.
By Huong Ly – Translated by H.Mien

Officials roll up sleeves to test eggs nationwide

Health agencies and businesses have been mobilized to test eggs for melamine after the chemical was detected last Saturday in eggs imported from China to Hong Kong.
Teams of officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development (MARD), the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Trade and Industry will cull egg and animal feed samples at poultry breeding farms in Hanoi for tests today, according to Nguyen Cong Khan, head of the Health Ministry’s Food Safety and Hygiene Office.
The MARD’s team will cooperate with the office to test eggs in northern Lang Son Province and those from local farms, Nguyen Nhu Tiep, a food quality control official from the ministry, said.
In Ho Chi Minh City, the local office of the Animal Health Bureau also started testing eggs in the city for melamine Wednesday, bureau head Bui Quang Anh said.
After a Chinese dried egg powder brand was found by the World Health Organization to be contaminated, Khan said the food safety office is rushing to investigate whether all dried egg powder products have been certified as safe for consumption.
Meanwhile, egg distributors countrywide are striving to prove that their products are safe.
Pham Thi Huan, director of Ba Huan Company in HCMC, said egg consumption in the city has dropped by 10 percent though prices remain unchanged.
The company, which sells 50 percent of its eggs to the city’s supermarkets, has sent egg samples for testing as ordered by the city’s Animal Health Office and Health Department, Huan said, adding that the results will be announced in several days.
“I believe our products are not tainted with melamine because the whole process from farming to consumption is localized and monitored carefully,” she said.
A representative from CP Vietnam has also guaranteed the safety of its eggs, promising to have the results of tests released soon.
Truong Thi Kim Chau, deputy head of HCMC Animal Health Office, said all tests thus far at poultry farms haven’t revealed any melamine contamination.
“Consumers shouldn’t worry about buying eggs from well-known supermarkets and retailers,” Chau said.
Ba Huan, CP Vietnam and Vinh Thanh Dat are three prominent suppliers of eggs to Big C and Co.opMart supermarkets and they are regularly required by the chains to ascertain the quality and safety of their products.
Reported by Thanh Nien staff