Improving the quality of population in Tien Hai coastal area

Since the project on population control in coastal areas (2009), many activities have been implemented in coastal communes of Tien Hai district. Since then, people's awareness has been raised, contributing to improving population quality and socio-economic development in the area.

Medical staff check the health of people in Nam Phu commune (Tien Hai).

The medical examination and health consultation session organized by Tien Hai District Medical Center in collaboration with Nam Phu Commune Medical Station attracted a large number of women in the commune to participate. In addition to blood pressure measurement, ultrasound, blood testing, women also received health consultation and instructions on preventive treatment of some non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, hepatitis, etc. Arriving early to wait for the medical examination, Ms. Pham Thi Thuy, Thuy Lac village, Nam Phu commune excitedly shared: Our house is far from the hospital, we are very excited to be examined by local doctors. Along with the medical examination, the doctors also advised and guided me on how to take care of my reproductive health, plan my births and use modern contraceptive methods. My family also decided to stop at two children to raise them well.

Doctor Nguyen Xuan Nghi, Head of Nam Phu Commune Health Station, said: In order for the medical examination and treatment program to achieve the best results, before organizing, we continuously promoted it for 5 days on the commune's radio system. Although it is a coastal commune, few people go to sea. Many people of childbearing age work in companies. This makes it difficult to propagate and mobilize people to use contraceptive methods. The rate of reproductive health examinations at the Station is low because people's working time coincides with the examination time, so they choose to go to private clinics. In the first 4 months of 2023, the number of gynecological examinations was nearly 230, the number of gynecological treatment was only 84 people and 21 cases of IUD placement at the Station. The whole commune has 3 people giving birth to a third child or more... Faced with that reality, we will continue to coordinate with local departments and branches to strengthen propaganda and mobilize people to create a change in awareness, contributing to improving the quality of the population in the commune.

Along with Nam Phu commune, Tien Hai District Medical Center also cooperated with coastal communes: Dong Tra, Dong Long, Dong Hoang, Dong Minh, Nam Cuong, Nam Hung, Nam Thinh to organize health examinations and consultations for women. This is one of the activities of the project to control population in coastal and coastal areas.

In addition to medical examination and treatment activities for women, Tien Hai district continues to maintain and organize models in the coastal and population control project, such as: models to meet the needs of maternal and child health care, family planning; health check-up consultation, checking high-risk factors that directly affect pregnancy, fetal development and quality; prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, prevention of unwanted pregnancies, safe abortion in communes and towns. In addition, the District Health Center also guides communes and towns to develop plans, implement thematic talks, provide consultation on reproductive health, family planning, improve population quality, etc. Thanks to that, the implementation of the coastal and population control project in the district has achieved results such as: Stabilizing the population growth rate (an average increase of 800 - 1,000 people per year); The average number of children per woman of childbearing age is stable at 1.8 - 2.0 children; the rate of couples of childbearing age applying modern contraceptive methods annually reaches 74 - 76%. Along with that, programs to improve population quality, strengthen communication and mobilization work, build and perfect the management information system have been implemented with high results. Training and professional development for population and health collaborators in residential areas are regularly carried out, contributing to improving professional expertise in collecting, updating information and providing consultation and communication in the area.

Mr. Bui Van Hai, Deputy Director of Tien Hai District Health Center, shared: The implementation of population work in the district, including coastal communes, always receives the attention of all levels, sectors and district leaders; effective coordination between communes and towns in implementing population activities. Although funding is still difficult, the District Health Center always pays attention to and integrates population activities to achieve the highest efficiency. In addition, the team of population officers and collaborators in the district is very enthusiastic and responsible. However, there are still some difficulties in implementation. Specifically, the biggest difficulty is the birth reduction campaign in some areas; it is difficult to reach and propagate to people of childbearing age because most of them work for companies and are far from home. The development of a network of reproductive health care services is difficult to achieve the set goals because many people choose private services, so the implementation rate at health centers and commune health stations is low. In the coming time, the District Health Center will continue to advise on maintaining the reward policy for villages that have not had a third or more child for many consecutive years; at the same time, regularly follow the grassroots, strengthen the direction of communication and mobilization work; coordinate with sectors and localities to deploy propaganda activities at the grassroots level. Re-arrange and balance programs, integrate and organize practical activities in localities; maintain and develop the operating models of clubs: health care for the elderly, women who do not have a third child; mobilize people to have planned births...