B: We love your salute: “Long live Radio, Long live DXing!” Thank you very much. Muhammad Aqeel Bashir of Pakistan’s Pak Listeners’ Club said: “The New Year is the perfect occasion to appreciate all the good things that the past year has given you and all the good things that are yet to come. In the past 365 days you have experienced beautiful moments that wouldn’t have been quite the same without all of the special people in your life. Let us look back at the past year with the warmest of memories. Let the old year end and the New Year begin with the warmest of aspirations. On this New Year we wish that you have a superb January, a dazzling February, a Peaceful March, an anxiety free April, a sensational May, and Joy that keeps going from June to November, and then round off with an upbeat December.”

A: Aby Sayed of Bangladesh said “Wishing you and the VOV family a Happy New Year 2019. I hope you have a precious year and a wonderful time ahead.” Sankar Bosu, Founder and Secretary of the New Horizon Radio Listeners’ Club in West Bengal, India, said all the Club’s members send their warmest greetings and wishes for a Happy New Year 2019 to all the staff of VOVWorld.

B: We’re very happy to know that many of you spent your time listening to VOV’s last program of 2018 and first program of 2019. DXing is your hobby and VOV’s English broadcast is a friend that you listen to every day. Thank you very much. Richard Nowak of the US sent his best wishes to VOV’s staff for a Healthy, Happy, and Prosperous New Year. He listened to a show on December 30^thon 7315khz. There was too much noise to hear everything clearly but he noted some information. He wrote: “I enjoyed tonight’s show. It was informative and educational. Have a great New Year! Thanks for the show and your support of shortwave!”

A:  We thank all you listeners for supporting and listening to VOV every day. We wish you a Happy New Year. May every day of the New Year be filled with success, happiness, and prosperity!

B: Last year we received many emails and reception reports from DXing Clubs in India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Besides sharing their DXing hobby, they did social work together. Abdur Razzak, founder and President of the Sarak International Radio Listeners’ Club said the Club helps poor people, giving free books and pens to poor students and free medicines to poor patients, and is involved in other social activities such as planting trees and the no-smoking movement.

A: Your Club’s activities are much appreciated as you’ve shared the burden of the poor and contributed to keeping-the-environment-clean movements. We’ll send some 2019 pocket calendars for your Club members.

Countdown Festival to 2019 at the Grand Opera House in Hanoi.

B: Martin Steiner of Australia emailed us on December 29 to say: “I visited Vietnam this year for a 3-week holiday and really loved the country and the beautiful people. It is great to listen to your program, as I can relate to many places and things that you talk about after having seen them with my own eyes.”

A: Since then, Steiner has sent us some reception reports. The last time he listened to VOV’s English program was on December 29. He sent us a this reception report: “I am still using the Grundig Satellite 750 connected to a 12.5m longwire antenna. The location is South Coast Western Australia. The reception on 12020kHz was really clear with SINPO 45454.”

B: Thank you very much for listening to VOV and sending us your reception reports. We’re sorry to hear that you have not received QSL cards for previous reception reports. Some of our listeners also say they have not received verification cards from VOV recently. Please wait a few more days, as delivery may be slow due to the Christmas and New Year holiday. Sometimes, it takes more than a month for letters to be delivered to certain countries.

A:Siddhartha Bhattacharjee, President of the Chaitak Listeners Club, asks: “What steps do you take to immunize children up to the age of 5 in your country?”

B: Under Vietnam’s Expanded National Vaccination Program, all children under five are vaccinated with 10 vaccines free of charge.They vaccines are for Hepatitis B, tuberculosis, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, paralysis, Haemophilus influenza type B, measles, Japanese encephalitis B, and rubella. The Hepatitis B vaccine must be injected within the child’s first 24 hours and the tuberculosis vaccine in the first month after birth.

A: Vietnam’s Ministry of Health said domestic manufacturers already produce eight of the vaccines. Since April 2018, 50,000 children under 24 months old have been vaccinated with domestically produced measles and rubella vaccine. Vaccines for seasonal flu, Japanese encephalitis, and polio are awaiting approval. With 95% of children under twelve months fully vaccinated, Vietnam is proactively controlling dangerous contagious diseases.

B: Due to population migration, parents forgetting their child’s immunization schedule, and other reasons, many children missed their vaccinations under the National Expanded Program on Immunization. The Ministry of Health and the Viettel Telecommunications Group have operated a National Immunization Information Systemat more than 17,000 immunization stations and 12,000 health clinics nationwide since 2017.

A: Based on iCloud technology, the system can be installed on computer, smartphone or tablet. The paperless management system computerises the work of health workers and links to a database portal for searching immunization records, scheduling and triggering calendar reminders.

B: Health workers issue an ID for a newborn within 24 hours of birth, when the baby is given its first Hepatitis B vaccination. IDs are managed and stored for a person’s entire life. According to health ministry statistics, more than 600 million doses of vaccines have been given free of charge to children and women in Vietnam over the past 30 years.

A: Last week we received feedback and reception reports from Andrew Kuznetsov of Latvia. He tuned in to our channel on December 8 on the frequency of 7290 khz and rated SINPO at 54544.

B: Ms. PriyaKumari of India listened to a program on December 12 and reported hearing Current Affairs and the Letter Box. We’ll issue a QSL card to confirm her report and include some postage stamps for her collection. Dildar Ahmed Laghari of Pakistan’s Naseem Radio Listeners’ Club, told us that he received QSL cards from VOV on the last day of 2018.

A: Thank you all for listening to VOV over the past year. We hope to continue receiving regular feedback from you. We welcome your feedback at: English Service, VOVWORLD, the Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi, Vietnam. Or you can email us at: englishsection@vov.org.vn.

B: You’re invited to visit us online at vovworld.vn, where you can hear both live and recorded programs. Check out our VOV Media App, available on both the IOS and Android platform to hear our live broadcasts. We look forward to your feedback on the mobile version of vovworld.vn. Once again, thank you all for listening. Happy New Year!