HCM City has a 115 emergency aid centre and 24 satellite stations throughout the city, but a shortage of personnel and ambulances has seriously affected the quality of service. 

The number of people living in poor districts who have taken up offers to work abroad remains very low.

HCM City lags far behind modern urban areas in its underground space master plan, experts said.

The outlying district of Hóc Môn in HCM City plans to focus on urban farming as part of the national “new-style rural area” programme in which it takes part.

Trần Văn Phúc, a young man from central Quảng Trị Province, has learned how to grow oyster mushrooms at his university thanks to an agricultural course created through an Israel-Việt Nam partnership.

More than 100 patients from southern provinces diagnosed with tetanus have been treated at the HCM City Hospital for Tropical Diseases since the beginning of the year, an increase of 50 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Regulations on the sale of alcohol and home-made liquor management have received substantial attention during discussions of the draft law on alcohol harm prevention, officials said.

Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has urged youth unions at all levels to support young people, especially students and young employees in companies and factories, to conduct scientific studies and enhance start-up activities.