Nghe An Trade Union: Many meaningful activities to take care of workers' health

From the risks

When talking about factories, plants, and businesses, people easily imagine continuous production lines with huge workloads, pressure of speed, pressure of output... Those who work directly in this environment - the workers - need to be able to endure all that pressure and hardship. For them, health is the deciding factor. However, not everyone is aware of this and knows how to take care of that invaluable asset.

With low income and limited time, most workers in enterprises do not think about going to the clinic for regular check-ups. They usually only go to medical facilities for examination when they have unusual signs of health, and even only go when the abnormal condition becomes serious, affecting their work.

Factory workers want more attention to health issues. Photo: DT

“We all share the same fear of going to the doctor, partly because we are afraid of taking time off, wasting time and not completing the work, and partly because we are afraid of the cost. The salary is already low and we have to pay for medicine, so it is not enough to cover living expenses and raising children. So we should try our best when we can.”

Mr. Dinh Viet Dung, a worker at a company in VSIP Industrial Park

One of the sensitive but extremely urgent issues today is the gap in reproductive health for female workers.

Ms. NTT, a worker renting a room on Dang Thai Mai Street (Vinh City) shared: “Garment factory workers like us often have to stand at machines continuously for long periods of time, with limited hygiene conditions, damp rooms, and cramped clothes drying areas, so many women suffer from gynecological diseases. This is also a sensitive issue, so instead of going to medical facilities for examination, many women find ways to treat themselves by asking friends or buying random medicines online. There are many cases where we use poor quality medicines, leading to a waste of money and a worsening of the disease.”

Faced with this situation, the trade union has implemented the model "Your Health" to take care of the physical and mental health of union members and workers and help them gain the necessary knowledge to take care of and protect their own health.

Timely care

In Nghe An, the "Your Health" model has been piloted since 2018. With a flexible and practical organization, up to now, the whole province has had more than 50 medical examinations for tens of thousands of workers, civil servants and laborers.

Nghe An Provincial Labor Federation implements a welfare program with free screening tests for early detection of colorectal cancer for 2,000 union members and workers. Photo: Document.

The district and industry labor federations will coordinate with medical facilities to organize health check-ups, consultations and provide free medicine for union members and workers. While the model was previously intended for workers in general, recently many programs have added reproductive health categories specifically for female workers.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy - Head of Propaganda Department of Women's Union of Provincial Labor Union

As one of the units that is evaluated to have implemented the model "Your Health" well, the Nghia Dan District Labor Federation has been flexible in terms of organization and innovation in content development each year. In 2020 alone, the Nghia Dan District Labor Federation coordinated with the Provincial Department of Population and Family Planning to organize free reproductive health examination and consultation at the workplace for 170 female workers of the International Fruit and Vegetable Production Joint Stock Company.

At the program, workers received general medical examinations, tests, general abdominal ultrasound, obstetrics and gynecology ultrasound, osteoporosis measurement, blood count, blood sugar, urine tests...

The program "Your Health" is widely welcomed by workers. Photo: Archive.

After participating in the “Your Health” program organized by the District Labor Federation, Ms. Pham Ngoc Anh shared: “This is a very practical and effective program. After the examination, you will also receive free medicine. I hope that in the future, such programs will continue to be promoted and organized in many other units.”

In Quynh Luu, to build the model “Your Health” combined with the program “Welfare for union members” for thousands of female workers, Chairman of the District Labor Federation To Van Thang and his colleagues had to be very persistent. Mr. Thang confided: “To gain the cooperation of medical facilities, union officials must highlight the meaning of the program as well as the benefits that medical facilities receive from this cooperation. They have the opportunity to promote services, approach customers, create a good impression...”.

Signing ceremony to implement the "Your Health" Program of the Hoang Mai Town Labor Federation. Photo: Document.

According to the survey, currently, the Hoang Mai Town Labor Federation has female union members accounting for more than 82% of the total union members in grassroots unions. However, the obvious reality is that there are still many female employees who lack knowledge about reproductive health care and take lightly the need for regular check-ups. In addition, many businesses have not really paid attention to and attached importance to the health care of workers in accordance with the provisions of labor law.

Implementing a program to examine and provide free medicine for union members in Nghia Dan district. Photo: Document.

According to Ms. Phan Thi Hoe - Vice President of the Labor Federation of Hoang Mai town: "After the examination, many people understood more about their health status and were advised on appropriate diet and exercise regimens."

As part of a series of activities for workers, from now until the end of May - Workers' Month, many district and industry labor federations will simultaneously deploy the model "Your Health". In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, the program will bring many practical humanistic values.