Best place to donate blood

Dien Bien (VNA) – The Red Spring Festival, a voluntary blood donation event, is taking place in the northern mountainous province of Dien Bien on March 5, with more than 300 people coming to register.

This activity aims to encourage people in good health from all social strata to donate blood, helping to address the blood shortage in medical treatment after the Lunar New Year holiday, especially after a hiatus in donation activities due to the COVID-19 resurgence.

Disease prevention measures were carried out to ensure safety for participants, organisers said.

The event is expected to collect more than 210 blood units.

According to the Dien Bien steering committee for voluntary blood donation , this movement has been developing extensively and intensively in the province over the past years, with an increasing number of donors. Donation are now not limited to youngsters or State employees but have been expanded to people from all social strata.

Apart from the Red Spring Festival, other annual events to encourage blood donation have also been maintained, it noted, adding that clubs of blood donors have actively worked to serve emergency needs at the province’s general hospital.

The National Steering Committee for Voluntary Blood Donation has set a goal to collect over 1.5 million blood units in 2021, with 99 percent of which donated by volunteers. The rate of blood donors in the population is hoped to reach 1.6 percent this year.

Director of the committee’s standing office Le Gia Tien said at a recent conference that last year, thanks to many initiatives and great efforts to overcome difficulties caused by COVID-19, the committee received approximately 1.4 million units of blood, helping millions of patients.

The majority of blood units were donated by volunteers, equivalent to nearly 1.5 percent of the population. Half of the givers donated their blood more than once./.

VNA

The right decision

Although the monastery is not classified as a relic or included in the list of reserved buildings by the government, it is highly appreciated by architects for its architectural value, according to architect Le Tu, head of Lam Dong Province Association of Architects.

On a purely legal basis, it is permissible to demolish the complex built atop the land, yet the Ho Chi Minh City University of Architecture chose a much more challenging and noteworthy solution.

It is too early to comment on the project’s impact, yet it does open the door for discussions on how Da Lat’s old villas should be managed and used to preserve the old town’s atmosphere.

As Tu sees it, if all precious villas are lost or investors wait for them to be severely ruined as an excuse to tear them down, Da Lat’s heritage will slip away.

Restoring old villas is difficult.

Therefore, besides goodwill, investors must have plans in place to prevent unwanted incidents and ensure safety.

The Vietnam Women’s Union organized a ceremony to give the Kovalevskaia award 2020 with the participation of Associate professor Nguyen Thi Doan, former Vice President, chairwoman of the Kovalevskaia Award Committee.

For individual category, Associate Professor Truong Thanh Huong, lecturer of Cardiovascular Faculty of the Hanoi-based Medical University won the award. Lecturer, associate professor Truong Thanh Huong has made great achievement in researches with the outstanding one being her research “Building an inherited gene mutation causing high levels of blood cholesterol”.

Moreover, she has proposed management models of illness in Vietnam. Her research of an inherited gene mutation causing high levels of blood cholesterol was certified by the Ministry of Science and Technology and transferred to medical facilities for application in taking care of nearly 500,000 Vietnamese people suffering hereditary blood cholesterol.

For team category, female scientists of the Institute of Natural Product Chemistry under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology won the award. They have made research on biologically-active compounds with natural origins for application into real life to better human health.

A group of researchers led by associate professors Ngo Kim Chi and Le Thi Phuong Quynh have made the project “Level and measures to limit greenhouse gas emissions in production of coffee in the Central Highlands Province of Dak Lak”, which also won the award.

The Kovalevskaya Award was named after the Russian mathematician Sofia Kovalevskaya. The award, the first national award for female scientists, started to be presented in Vietnam in 1986.

The prestigious annual award is given to organizations and individuals who are female scientists and have excellent achievements in research and applying science into life, bringing benefits in different fields including economy, society and culture.

Since 1986, the award has been presented to 19 organizations and 48 individuals in various fields such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, agriculture, medicine and information technology.

HCM City (VNS/VNA) – Prudential Vietnam Assurance Private Limited , a subsidiary of Prudential Plc , and Vietnam Maritime Commercial Joint Stock Bank have renewed their strategic bancassurance partnership for another 15 years.

The new agreement significantly expands the geographical scope to include the north, where MSB is headquartered, and make Prudential the lender’s only partner.

They have been collaborating since 2013 and built a highly successful bancassurance partnership which delivered a 34 percent compounded annual growth rate in annual premium equivalent between 2014 and 2020.

Under the renewed partnership, the two sides will also expand into new segments, including digital, to deliver holistic protection solutions to customers.

With a digital-focused approach that is aligned with MSB and Prudential’s plans to leverage existing digital tools such as the latter’s artificial intelligence-powered application Pulse, they hope to seize further growth opportunities.

Nic Nicandrou, Chief Executive of Prudential Corporation Asia, said: “Vietnam is an important market and source of growth for Prudential. The renewal and expansion of our long-term partnership with MSB represents a tremendous opportunity for Prudential to build on its strong presence in the market. It is a clear demonstration of our commitment to serving MSB’s customers, helping them get the most out of life with our leading suite of health and wealth solutions.”

Phuong Tien Minh, Chief Executive Officer of Prudential Vietnam, said: “Prudential Vietnam has built a highly-effective bancassurance partnership with MSB since 2013.

“We are delighted to be taking the partnership to the next level as we deliver our innovative offerings to MSB’s customers through existing as well as new channels, including digital. We look forward to continuing our strong relationship with MSB for another 15 years.”

Nguyen Hoang Linh, Chief Executive Officer of MSB, said: “We have enjoyed a very successful partnership with Prudential Vietnam and this reinforced our decision to extend the partnership and expand its scope to cover all of Vietnam.

“Together with Prudential Vietnam, we will remain focused on providing best-in-class financial and investment solutions to consumers across the country, helping them fulfil their evolving needs and providing them with a secure future.”/.

VNA