UNFPA Representative in Vietnam Naomi Kitahara (R) visits a Mong ethnic woman and her baby in Ta Ngao commune of Sin Ho district, Lai Chau province (Photo: UNFPA)Hanoi (VNA) – The (UNFPA)
has been working closely with relevant ministries and sectors to identify the
most effective strategies to assist Vietnam in creating a safe and happy
environment for mothers and children, including those in ethnic minority and
disadvantaged areas.
So said UNFPA Representative in Vietnam in an
interview with the Vietnam News Agency during a trip to the northern
mountainous province of from May 4 to 7.
Officials from the , the Ministry of Health, and the
Ministry of Planning and Investment surveyed maternal health care in some disadvantaged
ethnic minority areas of Lai Chau.
Pointing out two big challenges to maternal health care in
ethnic minority areas of Vietnam, Kitahara noted that ethnic minority
people mostly reside in remote areas, which hampers their access to
reproductive and sexual health services, while their ethnic groups’ special
cultural and social conditions also make it difficult to provide guidance on
and apply reproductive and sexual health care measures.
She underlined the need to increase communications and
guidance in ethnic minority languages, adding that medical workers and midwives
should also speak local languages to give explanation.
The UNFPA always exerts efforts to ensure that there won’t be
more maternal deaths, all demand for family planning is met, and gender-based violence
and harmful practices are prevented.
It has been working closely with the Ministry of Health, the
Ministry of Planning and Investment, and other ministries and sectors to
identify the most effective strategies to assist Vietnam, with a focus on
vulnerable groups like ethnic minority people, migrants, the youth, and the
disabled, the UNFPA Representative said.
In efforts to support ethnic minority people, some of the
main strategies suggested by the UNFPA include improving health workers’
capacity so that they are capable of dealing with different obstetric problems
and diseases, and capitalising on online communications platforms and
tele-guidance systems to overcome difficulties caused by special cultural and
social conditions, the language barrier, and geographical distance, according
to Kitahara.
Highlighting the importance of village-based midwives and
communications to improve public awareness and behaviour, she also noted that
the COVID-19 pandemic is causing major challenges when expectant mothers tend
to delay or skip pregnancy tests, posing high risks during their pregnancy.
She stressed the necessity to create a safe environment for
expectant mothers so that they can feel safe when visiting healthcare
establishments, and to provide protective equipment for medical workers to
safely perform their duties.
By combining those strategies, the UNFPA is confident of
helping reduce the maternal mortality, its representative added./.
Source: VietnamPlus
