Nghe An issues new policy to 'resolve difficulties' in population work

Adjust to new conditions

Previously, after more than 4 years of implementation, Resolution No. 170/2015/NQ-HDND dated July 10, 2015 of the Provincial People's Council regulating a number ofPopulation policy - Family planningin Nghe An province, effective from January 1, 2016, has had many positive impacts, contributing to the socio-economic development of the province.

However, Resolution No. 170 also revealed shortcomings, when some regulations on policies to encourage, reward and handle violations of population policies are no longer suitable to the practical situation and the authority to issue documents according to the provisions of the Law on Promulgation of Documents 2015 and the Law on Budget 2015.

People in Quynh Luu district learn about the use of contraceptives. Photo: MH

For example, the policy of encouraging and rewarding individuals “those of childbearing age who have 1-2 children or more who voluntarily use contraceptive sterilization, in addition to the regimes and policies enjoyed according to the Central regulations, each sterilization case is compensated 5 million VND (for men) and 3 million VND (for women). This regulation is only suitable from 2018 onwards when the Ministry of Health often assigned targets and funding sources to support sterilization for people.

Or, the policy of encouraging and rewarding individuals "those who implement family planning well and within 1 year mobilize 10 couples (within a block, hamlet, village, or commune) to implement contraceptive measures (sterilization; IUD placement) will be rewarded 1,000,000 VND and if there are more than 10 couples, for every 5 more couples, they will be rewarded an additional 500,000 VND to implement family planning" is no longer suitable for reality.

Parade to promote the implementation of population policy. Photo: MH

Reality also shows that Resolution No. 170 was issued when the main task of population work was population - family planning. However, now that the focus of population work has shifted from population - family planning to population and development to comprehensively solve the problems of: population size, structure, distribution and improving population quality, the implementation of policies also needs to change.

Currently, population work in Nghe An is facing many challenges and difficulties that need to be addressed, such as: The birth rate and the rate of giving birth to the third child or more are still very high; the average number of children per woman is 2.76 children and the province has the second highest birth rate in the country. With the current birth rate reduction, it is forecasted that Nghe An will reach the replacement birth rate by 2030, and will be 25 years behind the rest of the country in terms of birth rate reduction.

In addition, Nghe An is facing a high gender imbalance with 114 boys/100 girls (while the whole country has 112 boys/100 girls), an aging population; although population quality has improved, it is still low, especially in remote, rural and coastal areas.

Mr. Nguyen Ba Tan - Head of the Provincial Department of Population and Family Planning said: "With the current situation,population workNghe An is having to carry out two tasks in parallel. That is to reduce birth rate and improve population quality. Meanwhile, currently the budget for the National Target Program on Population and Family Planning has not been allocated; the Health and Population Target Program has lower resources... In addition, there have been many changes in population policy, so it is impossible to administrativeize population work, and it is even more impossible to apply sanctions to handle violations as before.

Advantages and disadvantages

Thai Hoa town is one of the localities facing difficulties in implementing population work. However, in 2020, some indicators of the town were lower than those of the whole province. In particular, the third child birth rate, although increasing, only increased slightly at 18.8% (while the province's rate was 28.1%).

According to Ms. Phung Thi Thanh - Head of Population Department - Medical CenterThai Hoa town: “In recent years, in addition to the province's population policy, the town has also issued a number of separate policies to encourage and motivate communes, wards, blocks, hamlets or some individuals to implement the population policy well. Personally, I think that in the current conditions, when the penalty mechanisms for violations of population policy are being loosened, the timely issuance of a number of new policies by the Provincial People's Council is very appropriate and will create a favorable mechanism for grassroots operations.”

A consultation session on population policy for people in Dien Ky commune, Dien Chau district. Photo: MH

In Dien Chau district, in recent years, population policy has also contributed significantly to improving the effectiveness of population work in the area. In particular, Dien Chau is one of the localities that soon issued its own policy, in which a reward of 100 million VND/commune or ward without a population is set.third childor more. In the current context, at the district level, after the population sector merged into the health sector and at the communes and towns, the blocks and hamlets have merged from 532 blocks and hamlets to 288 blocks and hamlets, so population work will certainly be more difficult.

Therefore, the Provincial People's Council's adjustment of a number of new policies to suit the new conditions and circumstances was affirmed by Ms. Tran Thi Luong - Head of the Population Department - Dien Chau District Health Center as "very practical" because: "Previously, the population policy was mainly concerned with units that did not have a third child. However, the new policy has expanded the subjects and the areas of rewards such as reducing the rate of third children and reducing gender imbalance at birth.

Population policy consultation at households in Dien Bich commune, Dien Chau district. Photo: MH

In particular, Resolution No. 15 mentions a number of incentive policies to improve population quality such as supporting newborns in areas with special economic difficulties to receive support for prenatal screening and diagnosis, rewarding communes and wards with a high rate of young men and women receiving pre-marital health consultation and examination, and units with a high rate of elderly people with health insurance cards who receive regular check-ups and examinations, which is very practical. Hopefully, this will create a major change in population work at the grassroots level, raising people's awareness in implementing solutions to improve population quality."

However, besides the advantages, the new policy also requires many adjustments in population work in the coming time, leading to more or less disruption, such as the regulation that from 2021, population collaborators will also take on additional village health work.

Health examination and consultation for the elderly in Bao Nam commune (Ky Son). Photo: Cong Kien

In fact, this is an extremely difficult task because for a long time, the people who have worked as population collaborators have been familiar with the work, have a lot of experience, and are dedicated. Meanwhile, if this team is replaced by a force of medical collaborators in villages and hamlets, it will lead to many shortcomings. The most worrying thing is that currently, the majority of the medical collaborators are old, mainly men, and do not have much experience in propaganda and mobilization work.

“I think that the recently passed population policy will impact the population work of the province in the coming time. Particularly, the team of collaborators when transferred to the team of medical staff in villages and hamlets will lead to certain difficulties. Therefore, in the coming time, the immediate task is to rearrange the team of collaborators at the grassroots level and the industry will soon have solutions to train and improve the capacity of the task so that the new team of collaborators can meet the requirements and tasks set out.”

Mr. Nguyen Ba Tan - Head of the Department of Population and Family Planning