Vietnam Struggles to Deal with Unhealthy Environment

Vietnam suffered from a shortage of clean water, polluted air and untreated garbage and waste. Associate professor Nguyen Huy Nga from the National Institute of Occupational and Environmental Health said this at a conference on environmental health management in Hanoi on June 18. During the conference, experts discussed difficulties facing environmental health in the country. Statistics from the Ministry of Health showed that only 85% of rural households had access to clean water. And only 65% of rural households had hygienic latrines. Medical waste was also not managed well, said Nga. Air and water pollution in traditional trade villages had reached alarming levels, he added. Vietnam had set up units specialized in environmental health in different ministries, but did not have professionals to manage them. "Vietnam should have a national action plan on environmental health," he said. The plan should target research on environmental health and improve people's awareness on the issue. Le Thi Thanh Huong, an expert from the Vietnam Public Health Association, said Vietnam lacked experts specializing in environmental health. It also did not properly compile national data on environmental health. Huong suggested the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment should closely co-operate to avoid overlapping management. More training should be given to workers and researchers in the field. Comprehensive research on environmental health was needed to define the most dangerous factors threatening people's health, said Huong. (Vietnam News June 19)