Millions in Vietnam at risk of worms from raw fish
HANOI - Millions of Vietnamese are exposed to parasitic infections
because many people in the southeast Asian country eat raw fish,
health officials said on Tuesday.
"Around five million people are exposed to the risk of
infection...and around 400,000-500,000 are estimated to be
infected," Vietnam's health minister Tran Thi Trung Chien told a
three-day workshop on parasites that began on Tuesday.
Seafood is a staple for Vietnam's 80 million people and eating raw
fish is common. About one third of the population lives below the
poverty line.
Residents living in high-incidence areas for worm infections would
be advised to stop eating raw fish, health officials said. In
October, the government also set up a fund to provide health
screening for the poor.
Around 40 million people worldwide -- mostly in eastern and
southern Asia -- are infected with trematode worms, conference
organizers the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization and the
World Health Organization said in a joint statement.
Reuters - November 26, 2002.
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