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Vietnam's trade balance was positive with the United States, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, and Austria. However, it was negative in several countries, including South Korea, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, and Argentina. This paper aims to investigate the asymmetric effects of several macroeconomic factors on Vietnam's trade balance in the post-global financial crisis era. This paper aims to capture better the nuanced effects of free trade agreements on Vietnam's trade balance. Using regression methods like Pooled OLS, Random Effect Model, Fixed Effect Model, and Hausman Taylor, it analyzes factors affecting bilateral trade with Comprehensive Economic Partnership for East Asia nations. These factors include gross domestic product (GDP), population, distance, exchange rates, national borders, and Free Trade Agreements. Findings suggest that GDP, population, and exchange rates significantly influence Vietnam's trade relationships, but free trade agreements have not yielded the expected results. This study's novelty lies in its exploration of comprehensive regression analysis, offering valuable insights into Vietnam's trade dynamics.

From 2011 to 2012, Northern Vietnam suffered its first large-scale hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) epidemic. Two sets of official guidelines were issued during the outbreak to handle the HFMD crisis. The city of Hai Phong was used as a model to analyze the impact of the released guidelines. A total of 9621 HFMD cases were reported in Hai Phong city from April 2011 to December 2012. Three distinct waves of HFMD occurred. Enterovirus A71 and Coxsackievirus A16 were successively associated with the epidemics. Two periods, before and after the guidelines’ release, could be distinguished and characterized by different patient patterns. The time to admission and severity changed notably. Guideline publications help the health system refocus on the 0.5–3 years age group with the highest incidence of the disease. The three waves showed different special distribution, but the main routes of infection were rivers and local secondary roads, most likely through local trade and occupational movements of people.

Background: Secondhand smoke (SHS) has detrimental effects on community health, including coronary heart diseases, stroke, lung cancer etc. This manuscript exploited data from the Vietnam Population-based Provincial Global Adult Tobacco Survey (PGATS) in 2022 to update the prevalence of adult exposure to SHS and associated socio-demographic factors. Methods: With the sample size of 71,981 adults aged 15+ throughout 30 provinces and cities in Vietnam, data was collected using the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) questionnaire. Bivariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression modelling were performed. Results: In the past 30 days, 44.4% (95% CI: 44.0%-44.9%) adults aged 15+ exposed to SHS at home while 23.1% (95% CI: 22.6%-23.6%) exposed to SHS at work. Female exposure to SHS in the past 30 days was higher at homes but lower at indoor workplaces. Participants aged 15-24 were likely to have higher odds of SHS exposure in the past 30 days to other age groups. Those living in the urban areas had 1.15 times higher odds (95% CI: 1.08-1.22) of exposure to SHS than those in the rural areas. Current smokers tended to have 2.2 times higher odds of exposure to SHS at the indoor workplaces compared to non-smokers (95% CI: 2.05-2.37). Conclusions: The prevalence of exposure to SHS at home was still relatively high amongst the adult population. While there was a significant reduction of SHS exposure at indoor workplaces, there was a higher prevalence of women being exposed to SHS at home. The Government of Vietnam should continue to strictly implement the smoke-free environment resolution at indoor workplaces and appropriate communication campaigns to protect people, especially women from SHS exposure at homes.