Communication associated with the provision of reproductive health care/family planning services

(Baonghean) -Along with the whole country, in recent times, the population and family planning work of the province has had positive changes and achieved remarkable results. The birth rate and the birth rate of the third child or more have decreased rapidly, the rate of couples in childbearing age accepting modern contraceptive methods is increasing, contributing to reducing the population growth rate to approximately 1.1%. However, up to now, the population and family planning work of our province is facing risks and challenges.

As one of the 10 provinces with the highest birth rate in the country, with a population density 5 times higher than the standard density, the birth rate of the third child tends to increase rapidly. In the first eight months of 2011, the birth rate of the third child or more increased by 3% compared to the same period, while the number of women of childbearing age accounts for a high proportion. Currently, the whole country has achieved the replacement birth rate with a rate of 2.04 to 2.06/child/woman, while in Nghe An the replacement birth rate is still quite high: 2.56 children/woman. This is also understandable, because our province has 10 mountainous districts, over 10% of the population is Catholic and especially has 4 coastal districts and 2 wards and communes of Hung Hoa; Ben Thuy ward (Vinh City). The coastal people have always believed that they must have a son to continue the family line, "God created elephants, God created grass"; Living by exploiting seafood requires male labor; the mentality of having many children to avoid risks,... is still quite common. In addition, the low level of education, backward customs and practices, weak Party, Youth Union and Association work in many places, and increasingly relaxed sanctions for violations of population and family planning policies are also obstacles to implementing propaganda on population and family planning work. In coastal communes, almost every year, people have a third child, some communes such as Quynh Long, Tien Thuy, Son Hai (Quynh Luu); Dien Bich, Dien Van.. (Dien Chau);... many families have a fourth or fifth child. It is known that the gender imbalance rate at birth in coastal areas is currently increasing abnormally (118 boys/100 girls).

Women access documents on reproductive health - family planning

Dien Ngoc commune was previously considered a commune that did well in population work, with many good methods such as focusing on propaganda and mobilization in groups such as the group of women who give birth to only one child, the group of men who do not give birth to a third child, the model of building a family of one to two children... but now Dien Ngoc is the commune with the highest birth rate and the rate of giving birth to a third child or more in Dien Chau district and the province. The main reason is still the ideology and laxity of the Party committee and the government. Ms. Le Thi Huynh in hamlet 3, Dien Ngoc commune did not hide: "My family currently has 5 children, I recently tried to give birth to a "boy". I thought I had completed the task, but unexpectedly my husband planned to give birth to another "boy" next year so that we would have an uncle in the future...". As for Ms. Tran Thi Thu Trang, also from Dien Ngoc commune - although she already had two children, one boy and one girl, her husband's parents decided that they had to have another son to feel secure, because Ms. Trang was the eldest daughter-in-law, and the family had the financial means to have as many children as they wanted.

In order to do well the work of population in coastal areas, in recent times the province has also paid attention to and always prioritized the direction of promoting communication and counseling activities associated with the provision of reproductive health care/family planning services in coastal and coastal communes. In addition to benefiting from direct counseling, people are also checked for health, checked for high-risk factors that directly affect pregnancy, and trained in prevention and control of reproductive tract infections. Organizing group activities, club activities, peer education, providing information, knowledge, and skills to practice contraceptive methods for groups of women, focusing on the group aged 15-24 who are not married... However, compared to the actual needs, it is still just a "drop in the ocean", the budget of the national target program investing in the activities of the project in coastal communes is still very limited, decreasing year after year, often being granted slowly, not meeting the requirements and tasks of the project.

In the coming time, to do better in the population work in coastal areas, it is necessary to have more attention from Party committees at all levels, authorities and mass organizations... the relationship between localities and village heads and deputy heads, population collaborators also needs to be paid attention to. In addition, the organization of family planning service provision activities also needs to be diverse, timely, of high quality, convenient and effective, especially promoting propaganda work, and removing psychological barriers of coastal people.

Hoang Thu