Just 45% of Vietnam’s rural residents have gained access to clean water in line with the Ministry of Health (MoH)’s standards, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said in its latest report. The rate of households in rural areas having hygienic latrines is only 54%, while the threshold for clinics is 73%, the MoH said. To implement the national program on rural clean water and environmental sanitation in the 2011-2015 period effectively, Health Minister Nguyen Quoc Trieu emphasized that both agriculture and health sectors should boost propaganda on the issue among citizens and set up cadre networks at grass-root levels. Vietnam will carry out a rural clean water supply project worth VND500 billion between 2010 and 2020 with an aim to supply clean water for all of its rural population next decade. The Ministry of Finance recently said the country will not raise prices of clean water by the end of the first quarter next year in order to help stabilize the domestic market. (Ha Noi Moi – New Hanoi Dec 28 p5)
