The remuneration for population and family planning officers at the grassroots level is not commensurate with their efforts.

(Baonghean) - Population and family planning work plays a crucial role, impacting not only economic development but also social issues such as employment, social welfare, security and order, and human health. Therefore, this is a field that the Party, the State, and the province pay special attention to and focus on leading and directing, as well as ensuring the conditions to achieve the best results in its implementation. In our province, the Provincial Party Standing Committee issued Resolution No. 20/NQ-TU, dated June 26, 2009, on continuing to promote population and family planning work in the new situation; the Provincial People's Committee issued an Action Program to implement Resolution 20 of the Provincial Party Standing Committee. Accordingly, all levels, sectors, and organizations in the province have actively implemented and incorporated the goals, targets, and tasks of population and family planning work into their annual and periodic work programs to focus on leadership and direction in implementation. To date, family sizes of one or two children are becoming increasingly common. The average number of children per woman of childbearing age has decreased to 2.49. The population growth rate has fallen to 1.18%.

However, Nghe An is currently one of the top 10 provinces nationwide with a high birth rate, reaching 2.56 children per family. Furthermore, the birth rate and the rate of third births are on the rise. Nghe An's population structure is experiencing a gender imbalance at birth, with 119 boys per 100 girls (in 2011), and is experiencing population aging with 11.7% of the population aged 65 and over. Population quality is posing many challenges, such as the high number of disabled people and malnourished children (over 21%), and a high number of women of reproductive age suffering from reproductive-related diseases. In addition, the number of communes and wards that have not had a third child is decreasing, from 10-13 communes/wards/year (in 2005) to only 6 communes/wards/year (in 2011).

In reality, in some localities, although the team of population and family planning officials at the commune and village levels is the core force that "goes door to door, checks every household, and identifies every individual" to create positive changes in the province's population and family planning work, the benefits they receive are not truly commensurate with their efforts. Specifically, the team of specialized population and family planning officials at the commune, ward, and town levels currently receive an allowance of 698,000 VND/person/month (for high and low mountainous areas) and 648,000 VND/person/month (for plains and urban areas). This benefit level includes an allowance from the National Target Program of VND 200,000/person/month for high mountainous areas and VND 150,000/person/month for low mountainous and plain areas, plus an additional allowance from the local budget of 0.6 times the current minimum wage according to Decision 58/2010/QD-UBND dated August 11, 2010 of the Provincial People's Committee. However, the team of population and family planning collaborators at the hamlet level have only received an allowance of VND 50,000/month since 2000. Furthermore, the recruitment of population and family planning staff to become commune-level health officials according to Circular No. 05/2008/TT-BYT of the Ministry of Health has not been implemented. This affects the rights of this team, as some qualified individuals are now over the age limit for recruitment as civil servants. Others are not mentally prepared to work, or even switch to other jobs, affecting the implementation of population and family planning activities at the grassroots level. The investment of resources for population and family planning work from the provincial to the grassroots level is still low, only at 0.4 USD/person/year (the minimum requirement is 0.6 USD/person/year), therefore it does not truly meet the requirements of population and family planning tasks in the new situation.

These issues have been clearly recognized by the Culture and Social Affairs Committee of the Provincial People's Council through a recent survey on the implementation of population and family planning policies in several localities such as Dien Chau, Quy Chau, and the Provincial Population and Family Planning Sub-department. Based on this, the Committee has also recommended that relevant levels and sectors continue to pay attention to research in order to soon have concrete impacts aimed at improving the quality and effectiveness of population and family planning work in the province in the coming time.

Mai Hoa