Oral sex linked to cancer risk

A young couple are seen enjoying warm weather in a park.

US scientists have said there is strong evidence linking oral sex to cancer, and urged more study of how human papillomaviruses may be to blame for a rise in oral cancer among white men.

In the United States, oral cancer due to HPV infection is now more common than oral cancer from tobacco use, which remains the leading cause of such cancers in the rest of the world.

Researchers have found a 225-percent increase in oral cancer cases in the United States from 1974 to 2007, mainly among white men, said Maura Gillison of Ohio State University.

"When you compare people who have an oral infection or not… the single greatest factor is the number of partners on whom the person has performed oral sex," said Gillison, who has been researching HPV and cancer for 15 years.

"When the number of partners increases, the risk increases," she told reporters at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Washington.

Previous studies have suggested that people who have performed oral sex on six or more partners over a lifetime face an eight-fold higher risk of acquiring HPV-related head or neck cancer than those with fewer than six partners, she said.

But even though the link between HPV and cervical cancer has been well known for many years, and vaccines now exist to provide some protection, much study remains to be done to confirm observational links and establish causes, Gillison said.

"The cervical cancer field is 20 years ahead," she said.

"We can’t demonstrate definitively that certain behaviors are associated with risk of acquiring an infection," she said.

"The rise in oral cancer in the US is predominantly among young white males and we do not know the answer as to why."

Researcher Diane Harper of the University of Missouri said such studies will take time, but the oral cancer field may move more quickly by using technology already developed for detecting HPV in cervical cancer patients.

"One of the scientific technologies that have evolved over time is the way that we detect HPV," said Harper.

"I think that the head and neck cancer area will benefit from that because we have gone through all kinds of different laboratory techniques to make sure we are actually finding what we think is HPV and getting type-specific information to go with that."

There as many as 150 different types of human papillomaviruses, and about 40 of those can be sexually transmitted, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Some may cause genital warts, while other more high-risk varieties can cause oral, anal, vaginal and penile cancers.

Sexually transmitted HPV infections are common and often asymptomatic, and untreated cases in women are the main cause of cervical cancer.

Half of all sexually active Americans will get HPV at some point in their lives, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated.

Two vaccines, Gardasil and Cervarix, were approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2006 for HPV types that cause cervical cancer and genital warts.

However, only 40 percent of US girls have received one dose and just 17 percent have received all three doses in the regimen, said researchers.

A study published earlier this month in the New England Journal of Medicine found that the HPV vaccine could prevent 90 percent of genital warts in men, and the vaccine has also been approved against anal cancer in men and women.

Harper said she was not recommending the general population get the HPV vaccine because research has not yet established its effectiveness past five to eight years for cervical cancer.

"We know from all of the very good modeling studies that have been done throughout the world that if the vaccine does not last for a minimum of 15 years, cervical cancer will not be prevented, it will only be postponed," she said.

For now, Harper and fellow presenter Bonnie Halpern-Felsher of the University of California San Francisco recommended that patients discuss HPV with their doctors.

"If you talk to health care providers and certainly parents and other educators, they are not talking to teens about oral sex, period," said Halpern-Felsher, who has studied teenagers’ attitudes and sexual behaviors.

"Teens really have no idea that oral sex is related to any outcome like STIs (sexually transmitted infections), HPV, chlamydia, and so on."

Source: AFP 

Vietnamese student assaulted in Australia not of danger

19-year-old Vu Ngoc Minh, a student at Deakin University’s Melbourne Institute of Business and Technology, is in critical condition after being beaten by a group of youngsters in Australia

An overseas Vietnamese student is still in critical condition more than a week after being beaten up by a group of youngsters in Melbourne on December 26.

Doctor Patrick Dang said 19- year-old Vu Ngoc Minh’s brain injuries will take a long time to heal.

Minh’s cardiovascular system is stable but the doctors need to watch his brain closely, doctors of the Royal Melbourne Hospital told the Tuoi Tre newspaper on Tuesday (January 4).

The Melbourne crime investigation unit is still clueless about the reasons for the attack.

On December 26, Minh, a student of Deakin University’s Melbourne Institute of Business and Technology, was beaten up at the corner of Bourke and Swanton in Melbourne.

Minh’s friend, Le Thanh Tung, said they were shopping when a group of Asian-Australians insulted them. The duo requested store security to call the police but were let down.

Tung and Minh were followed even after they split up to go in separate directions. Tung said he defended himself with his belt when he was threatened with a knife.

Not far away, another group of about six young men brutally attacked Minh, Tung said, adding that his calls for help got no response.

“He was conscious when I found him. He said his head hurt and he was cold.” Minh slipped into unconsciousness in the ambulance, on his way to the hospital.

Richmond police, who started the investigation, transferred the case to the Melbourne Crime Investigation Unit. Initial investigations found that the young men were Asian-Australians but it is unclear why they attacked Tung and Minh, police said.

Vu Ngoc Diep, a cousin who is in touch with Minh’s parents in Melbourne, said on January 3 that Minh was beginning to show some response.

“When his mother held his hand and told him to grasp hers, Minh did it,” he told the Nguoi Lao Dong (Laborer) newspaper. “He also attempted to open his eyes.” The parents flew to Australia on December 31 after receiving news of the attack.

Tung is afraid their attackers may return. He said he keeps looking over his shoulder even though he is always accompanied by friends.

Overseas students in Australia have called for a thorough investigation and better security.

According to the Deakin University Vietnamese Student Association (DEVISE), Minh regularly participates in student activities and has never been involved in fights.

The association has donated money to support Minh’s family and has launched an online petition to call for the safety for overseas students in Australia, at http://www.petitiononline.com/safetyoz/pet ition.html.

The petition, which was also sent to the Australian government, said: “We, the overseas students come to Australia with the hope of gaining valuable knowledge for a brighter future. One of the main reasons for choosing this country is because we love Australia.

“In return, we should be assured of protection by the police and authorities. As we are living thousand miles far from our beloved country and families, we always feel to be endangered.”

Reported by Thanh Nien staff 

Getting the best people and the best out of them

Parents waiting for their children taking the 2010 university entry exam. Da Nang City issued a decision disqualifying students who complete their education while working other jobs from government jobs, beginning next year.

 “All that glitters is not gold.”

The saying is quite old, but its truth shines just as brightly today.

And it is a good one to keep in mind when authorities are struggling with guaranteeing quality in all aspects of people’s lives, particularly in the education system, which has taken a lot of flak, some of it justified recently.

But a controversial move last week by the Da Nang City administration does the education sector a huge disservice it does not deserve.

The city issued a decision disqualifying students who complete their education while working other jobs, that is, those who are working and studying at the same time, from government jobs, beginning next year.

Let us see how this system works in Vietnam. There are people looking to start work as soon as they graduate from high schools and vocational schools for various financial and personal reasons. While working, they attend four-year university programs.

Now, under the decision, students who graduate from these programs cannot work for the Da Nang government, although, on paper, their degrees have the same value as those who attend full-time study programs.

Some say this decision is unfair and discriminates against part-time students. Others say it is against the spirit of the country’s desire to build a “learning society”, where everyone is encouraged to study whenever and wherever they can.

The education sector as a whole, both regular university education and the part-time programs have been heavily criticized by the public.

However, there is another aspect that is problematic about this decision. It deprives the city of people who are really capable, but have had to opt for this mode of academic learning for one reason or the other, and it deprives such people of the opportunity to serve the city.

With all the problems we are having with human resources development in Vietnam, recruiting people with skills is key, and isn’t this what the decision actually aims at? To improve the quality of the city’s workforce?

Why take a step that makes this more difficult, and less flexible?

People with skills and talents should be taken from all available sources, and we do not have to exclude those who take the trouble to complete part-time study programs while working.

As Pham Tat Dong, vice chairman of Vietnam’s Study Encouragement Association, told the Tuoi Tre newspaper recently, good and average students can be found in all types of institutions.

Some may argue that degrees are the first step to shortlist applicants, and keep the process transparent.

But, it’s not the only way.

Another solution is to design scientific, fair and clear recruitment tests such as those which are already in place for government agencies to employ civil servants.

Phan Manh Tien, deputy chief of the Ministry of Education’s Higher Education Department, told Lao Dong: “In my opinion, what’s important to improve the quality of civil servants’ recruitment is the method of recruitment, not the shortlisting of applications [based on degrees].

“If we want to employ good civil servants, we need to improve the quality of input tests.”

By Thanh Nien 

Loan sharks scam HCMC students

Students unable to repay debts fear for their limbs

Binh left his home in a nearby province and came to Ho Chi Minh City with dreams of a degree.

Struggling with the high costs of living in the city, he failed to pay his university fees in October and ended up borrowing VND5 million (US$256) from a friend.

When the friend asked him to return the money, Binh reluctantly went to one of the many loan sharks that lend money to cash-strapped students in the city.

“I had no choice. Banks and legal loan services won’t give me loans because I have no assets [to mortgage],” he said.

At a money lender’s in an alley off Tran Hung Dao Street in District 1, just steps away from the dormitories of the HCMC University of Economics and the HCMC University of Natural Sciences, Binh was “approved” for a loan at an interest rate of 21 percent per month.

To legalize the loan, Binh was made to sign a document saying he received the money as a deposit for a laptop he would deliver later.

Before he left, the lender warned the student with dire consequences if he failed to pay his debts. “They threatened to contact my family and cut off my limbs,” he said. Thankfully, he was able to pay off his debts within ten days.

But another student, Tu, was not that lucky. He was threatened and seriously bullied all November after failing to pay interest on a loan of VND11 million ($564). Fearing for his limbs and life, Tu borrowed money from his sister to pay off the interest. But he is still mired in debt.

According to Tu, hundreds of students have borrowed money from the same lender, identified only as C.

The 47 universities in HCMC attract thousands of students every year from around the country, especially the southern provinces. Loan sharks lurk around the universities and thrive on ripping off broke students.

Students get mired in extortionate interest rates, often ending up struggling to pay off just the interest, without any hope of getting out of debt.

Abundant bloodsuckers

Following a complaint from a victim student, Thanh Nien conducted an investigation and found hundreds of students who have seen their hardships turn into horrors.

Disguised as a relative repaying a student’s debt, a Thanh Nien reporter found that the loan shark popularly known as C. belongs to a ring with at least three unlicensed lenders around universities in HCMC.

He was told that he could pay the interest at any of the other “branches” in the city – at Street No. 2 near University of Technology in District 10, at D5 Street near a branch of Foreign Trade University in Binh Thanh District, and in the Thu Duc university area in Thu Duc District.

The service on D5 Street appears to be a pawn shop with a board advertising “low-interest loans with easy procedures.” A man called H. directed the “customer” to a nearby service on D2 Street to discuss the loan. However, he refused to lend money when the reporter presented an invalid student card.

Another loan shark in H.’s racket said many other loan sharks in Thu Duc university area charged even higher interest rates, of VND40,000 per day on a VND1 million loan, which works out to be 120 percent per month.

H. also claimed that the ring has tight connections with government and police officials who protect the illegal services.

According to state regulations, interest rates should be no more than 150 percent of the benchmark interest rate set by the State Bank of Vietnam. At the moment, the benchmark rate is 9 percent per annum, and the maximum interest rates charged by money lenders should not exceed 13.5 percent. Violating lenders can be punished by jail terms of up to three years and fines up to ten times the involved interest amount.

INVESTIGATION UNDERWAY

Following Thanh Nien’s report published Monday (December 6), the police in District 1 summoned 28-year-old Nguyen Manh Cuong, previously identified as C., for interrogation. Cuong, who operates the money-lending service on Tran Hung Dao Street confessed he had lent money to students at a monthly interest of 21 percent. He also admitted that he had forced borrowers to sign false documents saying they received the money as a deposit for laptops. However, he failed to say how many students had borrowed money from him. A subsequent police raid of his facility found records of 29 students who had borrowed a total of VND185 million. The police also found several leaflets introducing his services. Police said Cuong has so far not revealed any connections with other loansharks’ services in Binh Thanh District or elsewhere in the city. A District 1 police officer said they are investigating the case and are determined to crack down on the loan sharks. Meanwhile, several students who had borrowed money from Cuong told Thanh Nien that they received anonymous phone calls instructing them to pay their debt at a facility in Binh Thanh District. The Binh Thanh District police told Thanh Nien they would verify the information about the loan sharks operating in their jurisdiction.

Reported by Thanh Nien staff 

Da Nang criticized for refusing in-service graduates

Experts are criticizing the central city of Da Nang for its recent decision to disqualify in-service students from government jobs from next year.

 

In Vietnam, in-service training programs target people who are looking to start work right after graduating from high schools and vocational schools. While working, they attend four-year university programs.

 

The decision was announced earlier this week with an aim to increase the quality of civil servants, according to local officials.

 

However, experts, including educators and officials, don’t think so, saying that the decision is unfair.

 

In an interview with Thanh Nien, Phan Manh Tien, deputy chief of the Ministry of Education’s Higher Education Department, said that, while it’s Da Nang’s own business to recruit civil servants for its agencies, it can’t discriminate based on someone’s education status.

 

If the city wants to improve the quality of its human resources, it should hold examinations to recruit the right people, Tien stressed.

 

Agreeing with Tien, Pham Tat Dong, Vice Chairman of Vietnam’s Study Encouragement Association, said Da Nang’s decision is extreme, and doesn’t guarantee that it will be able to recruit good people.

 

Not all people graduating from in-service training program perform poorly, and not all university graduates are good, he said.

 

Da Nang should reconsider its decision, and focus more on an applicants’ real capacity rather than his or her degree type, Dong said.

 

Tran Hong Quan, former minister of Education and Training claims that, on paper, both university and in-service degrees have the same value.

 

Not to mention that in-service training needs encouragement, considering Vietnam wants to build a “studying society,” he said.

 

Quan acknowledged that questions were raised regarding the diligence of in-service graduates after media investigations revealed that some students obtained their degrees without attending their courses. Still, he said, that group represents a minority.

 

Professor Nguyen Minh Thuyet, vice chairman of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee of Culture – Education – Youth and Children, also said the decision doesn’t guarantee fairness among various degrees.

 

In-service degrees are issued upon completion of an undergraduate course, Thuyet said.

 

However, there are differences between full-time undergraduates and in-service ones, he said.

 

For example, the latter’s examination and supervision systems are less strict than the former. Many students are able to acquire degrees even though they never go to class, he said.

 

The latest move by the Da Nang People’s Committee, therefore, while is unpopular, also reveals the fact that in-service degrees are not particularly valued, Thuyet said.

 

What’s important is that the Education Ministry needs to review its in-service training system, he said.

 

Source: Thanh Nien, Agencies