Air quality in Vietnamese cities "is a real problem"

The quality of air in Vietnam is posing a health risk to the country's population and visitors alike and is a "real problem".

This is the opinion of Tuong Lai, the former dean of Vietnam's Social Science Institute, who told hc2d.co.uk that it is "not just foreign visitors who have complained about dust pollution".

Referring to research undertaken by employment consultants ORC Worldwide, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi are, in terms of air quality, two of the worst places in which to live and work worldwide.

The site also points to research conducted by the World Health Organisation in 2007 which shows that 16,000 die annually from pollution-related diseases.

Mr Lai called for the Vietnamese government to "make multiple efforts to make a healthy living environment for the people who crowd such big cities as Saigon [Ho Chi Minh City] and Hanoi."

Meanwhile, Vietnam's wastewater system and pollution-reducing policies are not working to the best of their ability, according to minister of construction Nguyen Hong Quan.

He told the Vietnam News Agency last month that punishment is seldom administered for those found violating regulations.