Vietnam needs to soon build a strong and effective legal framework forpreventing water pollution as the problem is getting out of hand,experts warned at an international workshop in Hanoi on April 17.

The function drew more than 100 experts from Vietnam, the US andThailand, alongside representatives from businesses and non-governmentalorganisations.

Tran Viet Hung, Vice Chairman ofthe Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations, said Vietnamis home to some 2,360 rivers and streams that are over 10km long, aswell as thousands of lakes. Those bodies of water are the source of lifefor millions of people, as well as fauna and flora.

However, the water sources are being degraded by over-exploitationand pollution, which is attributable to a deficiency in the managementand protection of the water environment.

He added that current regulations are not strict enough to prevent actions contaminating the water.

Director of the Centre for Environment and Community Research NguyenNgoc Ly said the most severe pollution can be seen in water bodies nearindustrial clusters, craft villages and urban areas.

Since there are a wide range of pollution factors and many rivers runfrom other countries into Vietnam, the control of water pollution iscomplicated and requires a feasible legal framework, she said.

She suggested priority be given to dealing with pollution in smallrivers pending the building of a law on water pollution control.

Research shows that some 9,000 people die of diseases caused bypolluted water and poor hygiene conditions in Vietnam every year. Thereare also nearly 200,000 new cancer cases annually, with contaminatedwater one of the main suspected reasons.-VNA