Accompanying the disabled

Disability screening for children at Bat Xat District Medical Center in March 2025.

To not be a burden to family and society

Giang Van Hung's family lives in Do Ngoai village, Thai Nien commune, Bao Thang district and is a poor household. The family has 3 members, of which Hung and his wife are both severely disabled (motor disabled). Hung's family is living in a house of gratitude built with support from the district Red Cross and socio-political organizations. The family's economy mainly depends on making brooms. Every day, he can make about 5-7 brooms, retailing at 50,000 VND/broom. At first, selling brooms was not smooth because few people knew about it. Hung and his wife mainly had to bring them to the market twice a week, and each session they could only sell a few brooms, so life was quite difficult.

Ms. Hoang Thi Hoan, Secretary of the Youth Union of Thai Nien Commune, said: To help Mr. Hung's family improve their lives, the Youth Union and the Party Committee and the Thai Nien Commune government have promoted Mr. Hung's family's broom products through social networks and information channels. Up to now, the name "Hung-Lien brooms" is known to many customers, each month, his family can sell 30-50 brooms, making life somewhat less difficult.

In early 2024, Thai Nien Commune Police also created more work for Mr. Hung and his wife by buying a photocopier and instructing them on how to use it, thereby providing them with additional income each month. Although traveling is difficult and sometimes they get sick, Mr. Giang Van Hung and his wife still strive to take control of their lives, so that they are not a burden to their family and society.

Meanwhile, Mr. Hoang Van Truc, 29 years old, a disabled person in Minh Tan commune, Bao Yen district, received support in another form. Mr. Truc said: In 2020, he participated in a mushroom growing technical training course (training under 3 months) at Phu Minh Private Vocational Training Center. After completing the course, he applied the knowledge he learned to his family's production. Each month, his family grows an average of 180 - 200 mushroom spawns, earning about 3 million VND (after deducting production costs). Thanks to that, his family has risen out of poverty in 2022.

According to Mr. Dinh Xuan Hoc, Director of Phu Minh Private Vocational Training Center, to support people with disabilities in vocational training at the Center, in addition to studying culture and vocational training, students also receive regular health care; at the end of the course, students are granted vocational certificates. However, vocational training time for people with disabilities is sometimes 3-4 times longer than for normal people. The acquisition of knowledge and vocational skills depends a lot on the level and type of disability, requiring people with disabilities to overcome their inferiority complex to excel.

Many policies to care for people with disabilities

Implementing Directive No. 39-CT/TW dated November 1, 2019 of the Secretariat of the 12th Party Central Committee "on strengthening the Party's leadership over the work of people with disabilities" (Directive No. 39), in recent years, Lao Cai province has implemented many programs and policies for people with disabilities, especially effectively implementing the Law on People with Disabilities and the State's policies for people with disabilities. Specifically, all levels, sectors and localities in the province have made efforts to create conditions for people with disabilities to access medical services; subsidize equipment, orthopedic devices, and rehabilitation for people with disabilities; introduce jobs; have priority policies and support costs for people with disabilities when participating in traffic, education and training; organize many cultural and artistic movements... for people with disabilities.

The health sector organizes screening sessions to detect early forms of disabilities for people (Photo: Phuong Thao)

According to the Lao Cai Provincial Department of Health, in the period of 2019 - 2024, the whole province has conducted health examinations for more than 37,800 people with disabilities (all with health insurance cards); inpatient treatment for 13,010 people with disabilities. Every year, the sector organizes many disability screening examinations in districts, primary schools, and kindergartens in the province, thereby examining nearly 211,300 people; more than 20,300 people with disabilities have been guided in community-based rehabilitation...

In the social assistance policy for people with disabilities, localities in the province have increased the dissemination to villages, hamlets, and residential groups of the Law on People with Disabilities, the rights and obligations of people with disabilities, so that people can understand and proactively carry out procedures to request determination or re-determination of the level of disability. Accordingly, in the period of 2019 - 2024, the whole province has examined and assessed 416 people with disabilities, including 143 people with mild disabilities, 253 people with severe disabilities, and 20 people with extremely severe disabilities. Determining and issuing certificates of disability is the basis for implementing monthly social allowances and related policies.

Not only receiving support from the state budget, departments, branches, associations and unions in the province also socialize support for people with disabilities through mobilizing domestic and foreign organizations, charities, agencies, units and individuals such as housing support; medical examination and treatment; scholarships; wheelchair donation...

To better care for people with disabilities, in the coming time, departments, branches, sectors and localities in the province need to continue to effectively implement Directive No. 39; promote the socialization of support activities, care for the material and spiritual life of people with disabilities with practical activities such as: medical care, educational assistance, organizing appropriate cultural and sports activities; enhance vocational training, support loans, solve appropriate jobs, create stable income so that people with disabilities have the conditions to gradually ensure their own lives, build happy and prosperous families, for an inclusive, barrier-free society and for the rights of people with disabilities.

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/dong-hanh-voi-nguoi-khuet-tat-post400429.html