Nghe An builds a digital population data platform

Correct and accurate

It has become a tradition that twice a month Chau Quang commune (Quy Hop) organizes meetings with collaborators.population- health on the 5th and 25th of every month. In the meetings, in addition to implementing and evaluating work and communication plans, one of the important tasks is to collect information reports, focusing mainly on updating population changes, birth and death changes, marriage and divorce changes, use of contraceptives, etc.

Consulting on contraceptive methods for people in Quy Hop district. Photo: MH

This is also a job that has been maintained for many years and is one of the important bases for commune and district authorities to update and grasp the changing situation as well as the population database in the area.

However, this time the update has its own difficulties because from the beginning of the year until now due to the influence ofCovid-19 epidemicTherefore, the number of people coming and going in the commune fluctuates a lot. In addition, after the merger, some hamlets changed their names, so it was difficult to grasp the situation at the grassroots level. Not to mention, the commune's population collaborators have also changed completely, so it is not easy to get used to the statistics and update information on population changes in the area.

In September alone, in our area, there were more than 10 children born, 8 people died, 12 people were transferred back but 5 people were transferred away. All of these figures, although updated by collaborators in the villages, we had to check them accurately before updating the information to the district. In fact, it also shows that updating birth and death issues is a regular issue, but the specificity of our area is that it is a mountainous area, including three particularly difficult villages such as Yen Luong, Ca, and Anh, with customs and practices that have their own characteristics, so if not checked carefully, it can lead to errors.

For example, when a child is born, families often declare the lunar date, but when they go to get the birth certificate, they declare the solar date, which can easily lead to confusion. At that time, in addition to getting information from population collaborators, we also have to combine it with vaccination lists, pregnancy check-ups, and health insurance to get the most accurate information.

Ms. Ha Thi Thanh Hoa - population officer of Chau Quang commune

The entire Quy Hop district has 21 communes and towns, some of which are located in remote areas with difficult travel conditions. Previously, to update population data, once a month, population officers would go directly to the district's Population - Family Planning Center (now the Health Center) to directly coordinate with officers in charge of the specialized information system of Population - Family Planning to update the district-level electronic data warehouse. However, thanks to the application of information technology, this work is now simpler because they only need to be at the base and send information via email for the district's population officers to have complete data. New information that needs to be supplemented (usually after the 25th of each month) will also be promptly informed through other information channels such as telephone, daily exchanges through media groups, etc.

Ms. Nguyen Thuy Hang - Head of Population Department, Quy Hop District Health Center said: "Although the Covid-19 epidemic has affected the communication activities of the population sector, we still maintain and implement seriously and methodically the updating of information and data on population."

Quy Hop district population officers update data on population information. Photo: MH

For more than a year now, across the province, changes in the population collaborators at the grassroots level have made updating specialized population information to the system difficult. Because in the past, this work was often done by experienced population collaborators "going to every alley, knocking on every door" to check. However, after replacing the entire population collaborators at the grassroots level, the collaborators have just begun to get acquainted with the area and the residents, so the work has been somewhat interrupted. In addition, in the past year, the impact of the epidemic and the migration situation of people have fluctuated a lot, so checking each subject has become more difficult. Especially at a time when many localities are implementing social distancing, if you do not "stick to the village, stick to the base", it will not be easy to update complete data information.

Through many years of updating specialized information on population, Ms. Lo Thi Tam - Head of Population Department - District Health CenterQue Phongshared: “This is a job that requires meticulousness and high accuracy, so no matter what the circumstances, we must try to update the information correctly, accurately and precisely. In addition, to carry out the work effectively, we must also clearly understand the customs and practices of the people to help people declare promptly and correctly according to the instructed forms, avoiding duplication”.

Towards digitalization, speed and efficiency

The National Population Database Project is considered a "valuable national resource", a foundation for building an e-Government, moving towards a digital economy... In Vietnam, since 2001, implementing the policy of computerizing population work, the National Committee for Population and Family Planning (now the General Department of Population and Family Planning) decided to deploy an electronic data warehouse software called MIS. In 2004, this software was deployed to provinces and cities across the country.

Update population information. Photo: MH

Up to now, Nghe An has built a provincial data warehouse and 21 data warehouses in districts, cities and towns; many communes and wards across the province have been equipped with computers to update data. After many updates, the software has increasingly demonstrated its superiority in population management activities and information such as: Number of people, number of households, number of newborns, etc.

The updated information and data transmitted to the province's population database is also the basis for the province and relevant departments and branches to develop plans and forecasts on the population situation as well as future impacts.

Regarding this work, in early October, the Provincial People's Committee also issued a plan to implement the Program "Consolidating and developing the specialized population information system until 2030". This is the premise for Nghe An to carry out "digitalization" to manage the collection, processing, exploitation, and storage of information and data on population in a unified and synchronous manner from the central to the grassroots level.

Thereby also raising awareness, responsibility and role of leaders of Party committees and authorities on the importance of population information and data; issuing plans and directives; arranging qualified staff, and investing budget for specialized population information systems.

Reviewing information and implementation of population tasks in Hung Nguyen district. Photo: MH

The consolidation and development of the population information system will be carried out in two phases. In the 2021 - 2025 phase, a pilot model will be implemented to update and digitize information data at the commune level, connecting and integrating it into the grassroots health information management platform. A model will be built to connect, communicate, share and retrieve data from the population database and data warehouse from the central to local levels with other population census databases; In the 2026 - 2030 phase, the model of information digitization at the commune level will be completed and stored and managed centrally at the central and provincial levels.

Mr. Nguyen Ba Tan - Head of the Department of Population and Family Planning said: "Building and developing a specialized population information system in the direction of "digitalization" is an urgent requirement today and is consistent with the development trend of society. This not only helps localities have a complete and scientific database but also facilitates access to the information system. Accurate population forecasting will also contribute to the development and implementation of strategies, plans, programs, and projects for local socio-economic development".