Conference seeks support for midwives in hamlets, villages

ABO/NDO- The Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs 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.

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA).

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.

(Source: NDO)