Investing in improving the quality of the population.

In response to Vietnam's Population Day and the 2025 Population Action Month with the theme: "Investing in population work is investing in sustainable development," Lao Cai province continues to affirm its determination to place people at the center of all development policies.

December 26th each year – Vietnam Population Day – is an occasion for the whole society to review the achievements in population and development work, and to affirm the particularly important role of population in the socio -economic development of the country. In response to Vietnam Population Day and the 2025 Population Action Month with the theme: “Investing in population work is investing in sustainable development,” Lao Cai province continues to affirm its determination to place people at the center of all development policies.

In implementing the policies and guidelines of the Party and the State, over the years, Lao Cai province has always considered population work as an important and long-term task, linked to the goal of improving the quality of life of the people and the quality of human resources.

Mr. Luc Hau Giang, Deputy Director of the Department of Health, affirmed: In recent times, Lao Cai province has strengthened the leadership and guidance of Party committees and authorities at all levels, improved the effectiveness of state management and the responsibility of heads of agencies and units in implementing population policies. Population education and awareness campaigns have been reformed in content and methods to change behavior, while also strengthening the role of the community.

The network of population services and reproductive health care is being developed comprehensively, prioritizing disadvantaged areas, combined with professional training for staff, especially at the commune and village levels. Activities to improve the quality of the population are implemented synchronously, linked to the effective implementation of policies and mechanisms and ensuring resources.

At the same time, the province is promoting socialization, mobilizing the participation of organizations and individuals, and integrating population work with other programs and projects. The application of technology in population work is being promoted, along with strengthening inspection, supervision, and evaluation of population work to ensure the effectiveness and quality of population programs.

To realize its mission, the Population and Children Department of the Provincial Department of Health plays a core role in advising, organizing, and coordinating the implementation of population activities. As the leading professional unit, the department has proactively advised on the issuance and timely implementation of plans, programs, and projects on population and development; while also strengthening guidance, inspection, and supervision of implementation at the grassroots level. Through effective coordination with various sectors and organizations, population work in the province has achieved many positive results, contributing to bringing population policies into practice.

In the Lao Cai - Cam Duong area, population work has been implemented comprehensively and synchronously. The rate of pregnant women undergoing prenatal screening reached 80.7%, and newborn screening reached 85.3%, helping to detect and intervene promptly in case of health risks in children. In particular, healthcare for the elderly has been emphasized, with 95% of the elderly having health records and 72.8% receiving regular health check-ups.

In mountainous areas like Muong Khuong, population control efforts are implemented flexibly, adapting to local conditions. Prenatal and newborn screening activities are gradually being expanded; high-risk cases receive timely counseling, monitoring, and intervention. Healthcare for the elderly has yielded positive results, with over 95% of elderly people having their health records managed and more than 81% receiving regular health check-ups.

Mr. Ly Van Xa, Deputy Director of the Muong Khuong Regional Health Center, stated: "To effectively implement population and development activities in 2025, the center has proactively developed and implemented many key plans and programs. These focus on inspecting, monitoring, and supporting population work; expanding prenatal and neonatal screening and diagnosis; implementing integrated communication campaigns providing reproductive health care and family planning services in particularly disadvantaged communes… At the same time, the center is strengthening inter-sectoral coordination, maintaining the specialized population information system, promoting training, and improving the capacity of population workers at the grassroots level, contributing to gradually improving the quality of the population in the area."

Thanks to these efforts, in 2025, many targets for improving the quality of the province's population were met and exceeded, including prenatal screening for 12,600 pregnant women, reaching 108.3% of the annual plan.

Screening revealed 116 cases of fetal abnormalities or other birth defects; of these, 22 cases resulted in pregnancy termination, and 94 cases were monitored, counseled, and referred to appropriate care in a timely manner. Newborn screening was conducted for 13,269 children, achieving 100% of the annual plan; 216 high-risk children were identified and placed under management and monitoring.

Throughout the year, the Department of Health continued to focus on implementing comprehensive and diverse communication efforts to improve population quality, targeting various groups, especially students, young people, ethnic minorities, and people in disadvantaged areas.

The Department of Health actively coordinated and organized communication sessions in schools throughout the province, totaling 236 sessions and attracting 42,070 participants. The communication content focused on knowledge of adolescent and youth reproductive health care; pre-marital counseling; prevention of child marriage and consanguineous marriage; and improving population quality in the new context.

In addition, the department also coordinated with the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Department and relevant units at the commune and ward levels to organize 1,269 communication sessions with 37,907 participants on improving population quality, integrated into commune/ward propaganda conferences and commune/ward People's Committee meetings. Participants included commune-level mass organization officials, village heads, influential community leaders, and households in ethnic minority areas.

Despite the achievements, population work in the province still faces some shortcomings and limitations that need to be addressed, such as the lack of comprehensive and regular communication and service provision aimed at improving population quality; people, especially in mountainous, remote, and disadvantaged areas, are not yet proactive in accessing services to improve population quality early on; the updating of specialized data and monitoring of prenatal and neonatal screening services are not timely; the results of campaigns to reduce birth rates are not sustainable; the province's birth rate remains high, and average life expectancy is still low compared to the national average. The rate of pre-marital health check-ups and regular health check-ups for the elderly, in accordance with professional regulations, is still low...

In light of this reality, in 2026, the provincial health sector has identified the need to implement a comprehensive set of solutions aimed at stabilizing population size and improving population quality; rationally adjusting the population structure by age, gender, and distribution; contributing to improving the quality of human resources, ensuring social security, and promoting the sustainable socio-economic development of the province.

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/dau-tu-nang-cao-chat-luong-dan-so-post889905.html