Nghe An overcomes difficulties after merging Population - Family Planning centers into district health centers
(Baonghean.vn) - From mid-August, 21 districts, cities and towns will merge Population - Family Planning centers into medical centers. Nghe An Newspaper had an interview with Mr. Nguyen Ba Tan - Head of the Provincial Department of Population - Family Planning about the implementation process of the merger and the tasks set for the coming time.
Reporter: Sir, we are merging Population - Family Planning centers in districts and cities. What is the significance of this merger at this time?
Mr. Nguyen Ba Tan:The merger is to implement Resolution 18-NQ/TW, Resolution 19 - NQ/TW and Central Resolution 6 on continuing to innovate, arrange and organize the apparatus of the political system to streamline, operate effectively and efficiently.
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| Doctor Nguyen Ba Tan advises people on reproductive health care knowledge. Photo: My Ha |
In addition, the province also has Plan No. 111-KH/TU of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee on merging district-level agencies, including the population - family planning center and the health center. The merger at this time is in line with the policies and after the merger, we will combine human resources between medical staff, propaganda staff and medical facilities. In addition, the goal of merging the population - family planning center and the district-level health center is to innovate and perfect the health system in a streamlined direction, ensuring consistent direction in terms of expertise and profession.
Previously, according to the plan that was built, after the merger, 21 public service units under the Department of Population and Family Planning would be reduced, by 2021, at least 10% of the staff would be reduced for medical centers without beds, commune, ward and town health stations, the number of deputies would be reduced, the staff would be restructured and appropriate job positions would be created. Currently, provinces across the country have also carried out this merger and in Nghe An, the merger is timely.
PV: So up to this point, which units have we merged and how is the merger process carried out?
Mr. Nguyen Ba Tan:The merger is in accordance with policies and guidelines and from August 15, the activities of the population - family planning centers have been temporarily suspended and the merger began on August 16. Currently, 21 districts, cities and towns have also decided to merge and we are in the process of handing over the decision to the units.
After the merger, the facilities of the Population - Family Planning Center will be handed over to the localities and the units will be transferred to work at the Population Department of the health center. According to the current structure, the directors and acting directors will become heads of the population department, and the deputy directors will become deputy heads of the population department. The tasks will still be carried out according to Circular 05 with the old regulations. The population staff will be transferred to the commune health station.
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| The Population Collaborators of Hung Dao Hung Nguyen commune guide people on how to use contraceptives and prevent Covid-19. Photo: PV |
PV: Obviously, the initial merger always entails disruptions and difficulties. So how does the population sector “forecast” population activities in the coming time?
Mr. Nguyen Ba Tan:The district-level Population and Family Planning Centers were established and put into operation in 2008 and have been in operation for 10 years. At this time, the activities of the district-level Population and Family Planning Centers, the commune population staff and the village population collaborators under the direction of the provincial Population and Family Planning Office have been operating very well and are becoming more and more proficient.
In the above context, the merger will certainly disrupt the system. Especially when we are currently only implementing the merger mechanically without any legal basis and guiding circulars from the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Specifically, the Ministry of Health has not yet issued a circular regulating the functions, tasks, and organizational structure of district-level multifunctional health centers. Therefore, when merging the Population - Family Planning Center, it will be difficult to clearly define the functions and tasks for management, operation, and organization of activities.
With the above characteristics, after the merger, we need a long time to adapt. In the immediate future, in the next 5-7 years, population work will face difficulties. That is, at the district level, there is confusion about the activities as well as the clear regulations of the competent authorities. After returning to the health station, the population officers of the commune may not understand the functions and tasks of population and the assignment of tasks and activities will be difficult.
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| Director of the Department of Health presented the decision to merge the Center for Population - Family Planning into the Quy Hop District Medical Center. Photo: PV |
In addition, in recent years, the population collaborators in villages, hamlets, and communes have been working very well. This is also the team that "goes to every alley, knocks on every door to check for each subject", and is the "bridge" between the people and population policy. Without this team, population policies would not reach the people and feedback from the people would not be received by the state apparatus, and we would not have accurate data.
However, after the merger, the population collaborator position was cut, and village health workers will also take on population work, while this team is mostly male, older, has never been exposed to population work, has no experience, skills, and does not understand the work they are doing. In addition, this team is currently doing two jobs at the same time but the allowance has not increased (only 0.3 of village health workers), so it is difficult to stick with them for a long time.
PV: In the above context, what suggestions and solutions does the population sector have to overcome the difficulties?
Mr. Nguyen Ba Tan:As I said, in the current conditions, it is very difficult to maintain the operation of population work because the population apparatus from district to commune level and the population collaborators are all fluctuating.
To continue to effectively implement population work, we are gradually meeting and consulting with the Department of Health to soon have a detailed plan, and have a budget source to maintain population work activities from the province to the grassroots level. At the same time, we hope to soon issue a coordination regulation between the Provincial Department of Population - Family Planning and the district-level health center to have binding top-down and bottom-up.
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| Consulting on population policy for the elderly in Quy Chau district. Photo: My Ha |
This is also a document that has been implemented by many provinces and cities. On the sector side, in the coming time, we will also increase our visits to the grassroots level to grasp the thoughts and feelings of the population work team after the merger and listen to their comments. In the immediate future, population activities will still be fully implemented from propaganda, training, statistics... and we will try to ensure that no matter what the circumstances, there will be no interruption.
PV: Thank you!
The merger of the Population - Family Planning Centers did not happen overnight, but has been prepared for about 2 years. During the past time, we have also done ideological and motivational work, and at this point, the population team in the province is ready to enter the new phase. Through Nghe An Newspaper, we also hope that the population force in the province will firmly follow the correct guidelines and policies of the Party and the management of the Department of Health and provincial departments and branches, unite to overcome difficulties and successfully complete the tasks assigned by superiors.
