Conference seeks support for midwives in hamlets, villages

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – The in collaboration with
the and the United Nations Children’s
Fund (UNICEF) held a conference in Hanoi on March 10 to lobby policies in
support of midwives in hamlets and villages.

Speaking at the event,
Deputy Health Minister Prof. Tran Van Thuan said thanks to support of the
Party, State, ministries, agencies, authorities and international
organisations, Vietnam has made encouraging achievements in maternal and child
health care.

Founded since the 1990s,
the team of midwives in hamlets and villages have made significant
contributions to maternal and child health care in ethnic minority areas,
particularly in reducing maternal and newborn mortalities. To date, there are
3,077 trained midwives nationwide.

According
to reports from localities, as of January 31, 2023, there were 1,528 village
midwives who had been trained but had stopped working due to the lack of
funding. So far, the number of midwives receiving allowances has decreased to
only 911, of whom 732 also perform additional duties of village health workers.

Lesley
Miller, Deputy Representative of UNICEF, affirmed that the health and survival
of mothers should always be a top and urgent priority in Vietnam’s health care
and development programme.

The
committee suggested the Health Ministry, ministries and agencies work closely
with them to review and fine-tune policies in support of village midwives.

Delegates
at the event discussed support policies for mothers and children in disadvantaged
areas, as well as shared experience of localities in supporting midwives in
villages and hamlets./.