To have a reasonable birth rate

- With the motto of "going to every alley, knocking on every door, checking every subject", the team of population officers and collaborators in the province have made an important contribution to adjusting the birth rate. Thanks to that dedication, the province's population work has achieved remarkable results, the birth rate has been adjusted appropriately, and the population quality has gradually improved.

Population officer of Bac Son commune (left) promotes reproductive health care for people

Having two daughters, Duong Thi Quynh Hoa and her husband (Huu Vinh block, Bac Son commune) were advised many times by relatives to have another son to "have both a son and a daughter". The couple could not help but worry. However, when the commune population officers came to visit and consult, the couple decided to stop at 2 children. Now, her children are all good students, obedient, and the family's economy is stable. Ms. Hoa confided: Thanks to the population officers who regularly come to the house to propagate and explain in detail, I gradually understood how to take care of reproductive health, family planning and knew how to consider carefully before having another child. They did not just say it once but persistently reminded and shared each specific, close story. Thanks to that, my husband and I agreed to stop at 2 children. Looking back now, I see that that decision was completely correct.

From the specific results in households like Ms. Hoa, we can clearly see the important role of population officers and collaborators. Ms. Pham Thi Yen, a population officer of Bac Son commune, who directly propagates, shared: At the grassroots level, our work does not stop at collecting data, but more importantly, we have to go to each family to explain and mobilize. People in rural areas still have many traditional concepts, wanting to have a son to continue the family line. We have to get real stories from families to convince them. It is this closeness and perseverance that has helped many couples make appropriate decisions about the number of children and the spacing between births.

Not only in Bac Son, in many other communes/wards in the province, the force of population officers and collaborators is also showing remarkable effectiveness. The whole province currently has over 1,600 population collaborators and 130 population officials. To improve the effectiveness of grassroots population officers, the provincial health sector has implemented many measures. From 2024 to present, the whole province has organized 11 training courses for over 800 population officers and collaborators to update knowledge and practice communication skills, and provide direct consultation at households. At the same time, providing documents, visual media and promoting the application of information technology helps population officers and collaborators monitor and promptly grasp the situation of population fluctuations, thereby mobilizing more effectively and closely to reality.

Therefore, although the reality of having a third child still exists in some areas due to the influence of customs and the ideology of "preferring sons over daughters", most families have consciously stopped at 2 children. Thanks to that, when calculating the average for the whole province, the average total fertility rate (the average number of children of a woman of childbearing age) is still maintained at a reasonable level. According to data from the Department of Health , the average fertility rate of the province has decreased from 2.32 children/woman (in 2021) to 2.22 children/woman (in 2024), approaching the replacement fertility rate (2.1 children/woman). This is a clear demonstration of the effectiveness of the persistent and tenacious activities of the grassroots population staff and collaborators.

Ms. Truong Thi Hang, Head of the Population Division, Department of Health affirmed: The population staff and collaborators play a key role in effectively implementing the tasks and goals of population work. To improve the quality of this human resource, in the coming time, the department will continue to develop a training plan, foster professional expertise and skills, and at the same time, advise and propose appropriate mechanisms and policies to motivate population staff to work with peace of mind and stay with the profession for a long time.

In fact, population officers are the “key” to creating changes in people’s awareness and behavior. Continuing to promote their role and create conditions for this team to operate effectively will contribute to adjusting the birth rate appropriately and improving population quality.

Source: https://baolangson.vn/chia-khoa-dieu-chinh-muc-sinh-5056838.html