Mystery disease may be arsenic poisoning
Doctors at the HCM Paediatrics Hospital No 2 speculate that the mystery skin disease afflicting people in Quang Ngai Province may be caused by arsenic or dioxin poisoning.
But a final conclusion awaits the results of tests done on three children admitted there a week ago.
Dr Ho Thi Kim Thoa said the preliminary diagnosis was that the patients were poisoned. Besides causing liver defects, the disease also affected other organs like heart and kidney.
Today the Ministry of Health will organise a conference to discuss the cause of the disease at Hospital C in Da Nang.
Nguoi Lao Dong (The Labourer)
HCM City fails to cut traffic accidents
With the incidence of road accidents only reducing slightly compared with last year, HCM City is unlikely to achieve its target of reducing them by 10 per cent this year.
According to the HCM City Traffic Safety Committee, last month there were 61 accidents in which 54 people were killed and 32 injured.
At a meeting on Tuesday with representatives of the city's 24 districts, Nguyen Huu Tin, deputy chairman of the municipal People's Committee, criticised local authorities and the Department of Transport for failing to curb the increase in accidents.
Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Sai Gon)
Education officials target drug abuse
The Ministry of Education and Training has asked its agencies and schools to encourage students to sign a commitment against drugs to prevent drug use in schools.
Besides, local educational agencies will carry out a campaign to educate people about the effects of drugs and call for denouncing drug use.
Random tests will also be done on students to discover drug use at school.
Nhan Dan (The People)