Hanoi (VNA) - The number of methanol poisoning cases hassurged over the past three months compared with previous years, according toinformation presented at a workshop on April 10 in Hanoi on the effect ofalcohol abuse and the treatment of methanol poisoning.

Addressing the event sponsored by the Vietnam FoodAdministration under the Ministry of Health, Nguyen Trung Nguyen from thePoisoning Control Centre at Bach Mai Hospital said the centre treated 34 casesof methanol poisoning cases this year. Of these, nine people died. Nguyenwarned that even those who survive are likely to suffer serious after-effect.

Over 60 cases were recorded in the country last year, comparedwith only a handful in the previous years, he said. Consuming alcohol withmethanol content of nearly 50 percent was the cause of alcohol-related deaths,he added.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Viet Tien said: "It isheartbreaking to see victims of methanol poisoning die, or remain maimed,despite doctors’ best efforts to save them." Methanol-laced alcohol cancause lasting nerve damage or blindness, he warned.

Identifying the responsible person is very difficult, Tien said,but consumption of alcohol, especially of methanol, must be curbed. Hesuggested that as an authorised agency, the Ministry of Industry and Tradeshould tighten the management of alcohol quality to prevent poisoning.

Nguyen Hung Long, deputy head of the VFA, said the prevention ofmethanol poisoning should focus on small alcohol dealers, especially small foodestablishments.

These establishments usually sell alcohol without brand names, hesaid, adding that it was difficult to distinguish between white wine andmethanol-laced alcohol.

Participants at the workshop agreed that there were shortcomingsin the management of alcohol production and trading.

They proposed that a law be promulgated soon, strengtheningcontrol over advertisements, as well as places which sell alcohol, and theconsumption of alcohol by children and drivers. 

According to the VFA, 382 people have been poisoned by unsafealcohol over the past 10 years, 98 of whom died.

Most cases of alcohol intoxication are caused by drinking alcoholof unknown origin, or home-made liquor sold at small restaurants or in streetstalls.-VNA