Debt Rescheduling Ordered for Bird Flu-Hit Farmers
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan has instructed the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development to reschedule outstanding debts for farmers who have been severely affected by the bird flu epidemic.
He issued the instruction on November 10 while inspecting measures to prevent and control the spread of bird flu among humans and animals in the northern province of Bac Ninh.
Khoan, who also toured northern Bac Giang province on the same day, asked the bank to continue lending to poultry farmers so that they could raise other livestock.
Farmers in bird flu-hit provinces have been ordered to cull fowls infected with the lethal H5N1 virus that has caused 42 human deaths in Vietnam so far.
Another deputy prime minister, Pham Gia Khiem, also inspecting preparedness against possible bird flu outbreaks, visited the northern port city of Haiphong and its neighboring Hai Duong province on November 11-12.
Khiem said he would instruct the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to increase payments to veterinarians taking part in the local poultry vaccination program.
The deputy prime ministers urged the provinces to further spread information on bird flu among farmers to raise people's awareness about a potential human pandemic.
The provinces had to be ready with human resources, equipment, and medicines to stamp out any outbreaks of bird flu, they warned.
Labour
Vietnamese
