Hand Foot Mouth Disease (HFMD) is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by Coxsackie virus (A16) and Enterovirus 71 (EV71). In Việt Nam, HFMD occurs throughout the year, but the peak season is from March until May and September to December. Children can get HFMD at all ages but children below 3 years are more susceptible, as they have not developed immunity against the virus.

Hưng Yên Province has raised the alarm over environmental pollution as many local companies continue to discharge untreated wastewater despite strict punishments by authorities.

Only 5.7 per cent of Việt Nam’s older people maintain good health—a worrisome sign as the country’s population is aging faster than almost any other country in the world, said Nguyễn Đức Công, director of Thống Nhất Hospital and deputy president of HCM City Association of Geriatrics at last week’s “Nutrition and Geriatrics” conference.

The Việt Nam Red Cross Society’s Central Committee and FrieslandCampina’s Dutch Lady brand will continue with programme on nutrition education and physical development in the 2018-2019 school year.

The Vegetarian Food Festival will be held on September 21-23 in Tây Ninh Province, with the participation of internationally acclaimed celebrity chef Martin Yan and dozens of other chefs, according to the province’s People’s Committee.

More than 90 per cent of dietary supplement producers in Việt Nam have not implemented Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), according to health officials, leading to fears that without gaining GMP certificates by July next year, their production would be halted.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has granted 206 franchise licences for foreign brands in Việt Nam since 2007, reports from the ministry showed.

Big C supermarket chain is offering discounts of up to 50 per cent on products like fresh and processed food, clothing and home appliances until July 24 to thank customers on the occasion of its 20^th anniversary in Việt Nam.

People require medical care even before they fall sick, said health minister Nguyễn Thị Kim Tiến at the opening of a training programme to improve the quality of local clinics and the country’s grass-roots level health care system, in Đan Phượng District, Hà Nội.