Synchronous, active and effective communication

Over the past years, the health sector of Lao Cai province has proactively and promptly brought the Party and State's policies on population and development to the people. Thanks to synchronous and active implementation, communication activities have achieved many important results, contributing to raising people's awareness and improving the quality of population and development work.

The provincial health sector always actively advises the Provincial Party Committee, the People's Council, and the Provincial People's Committee to issue plans, resolutions, and documents directing the implementation of propaganda, advocacy, and community mobilization work, and raising awareness of the importance of population and development work. At the same time, the sector regularly and promptly provides information to local Party committees and authorities, especially prestigious people in the community. Every year, the health sector coordinates with departments, branches, and socio- political organizations to participate in building coordination programs, organizing seminars, conferences, training courses, seminars, and thematic talks, creating a concentrated strength to carry out communication work.

Luc Yen Regional Medical Center organizes a talk on health care
Elderly people and propaganda of legal policies on population work in 2025.

To improve the effectiveness of population communication work, the provincial health sector has implemented a variety of information and propaganda channels. Over the past 5 years, the sector has focused on diversifying communication types and products and providing appropriate communication equipment and means for agencies, units and localities. Specific figures show the spirit of effort: producing over 25,000 thin books, flipcharts, handbooks, and handbooks; 1,000 posters, over 146,200 leaflets, nearly 2,300 banners, 31 panels, 25 videos ... and writing and compiling communication documents posted on the Electronic Information Portal of the Department of Population, Department of Health for facilities to exploit and use; sending via zalo groups, facebook, tiktok... In particular, the sector has distributed 80 portable speakers to commune health stations, bringing information to the grassroots, especially in remote areas.

Direct communication activities are promoted by group propaganda in the community, directly at households. In the period of 2020 - 2025, the provincial health sector organized hundreds of thousands of direct propaganda sessions for millions of people. Notably, nearly 144,000 students were provided with knowledge through nearly 2,200 "Golden Bell" contests, forums to learn about reproductive health care knowledge. For effective communication activities, the health sector focuses on training and coaching to improve capacity, knowledge and skills for communication staff in the population system and communication staff, reporters, propagandists, collaborators at all levels. In the past 5 years, 32 classes have been organized for nearly 1,400 health - population officials and 36 classes for nearly 1,800 population collaborators...

Staff of Ban Cong Health Station propagate the implementation of population work and family planning
for Mong women in Khao Chu village, Hanh Phuc commune.

Ban Cong Health Station staff promote malnutrition prevention
and instructions for using vitamin supplements for students
Ban Cong Primary and Secondary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities

Along with traditional methods, the provincial health sector has promoted communication activities on the Internet and social networks. Propaganda and behavioral change activities on population work have been carried out appropriately in the new situation, suitable for each region, each locality, and each ethnic group. Information content posted on the Electronic Information Portal of the Population Department, the Department of Health, Lao Cai Provincial Newspaper and Radio, and the Health and Life Newspaper continues to be widely shared on zalo, facebook, tiktok, and youtube groups. Coordination with mass media agencies has brought about impressive results with over 9,300 news, articles, and reports posted. Annual events such as World Population Day (July 11), National Action Month on Population and Vietnam Population Day (December 26) ... are all organized synchronously from the province to the grassroots.

One activity that has brought about practical results is the Integrated Communication Campaign to provide population/reproductive health care services in extremely disadvantaged communes. The campaign has increased counseling before, during and after using family planning services with nearly 3,800 direct communication sessions, helping people access services and medical knowledge. In addition, 37 clubs to reduce early marriage and consanguineous marriage, 106 clubs to control gender imbalance at birth, 74 premarital health check-up clubs, and 10 clubs for the elderly have helped solve population problems. Nearly 50 training courses were organized for nearly 1,700 collaborators, propagandists, health and population officers, etc., contributing to improving the capacity to implement the model at the grassroots level.

Staff of Lao Chai Commune Health Station instruct Mong ethnic women on how to use contraceptives.

Population communication work has increasingly attracted the participation, contribution of means and resources from organizations, individuals and businesses. In the period of 2021 - 2025, Lao Cai has coordinated with companies implementing Project 818 to carry out a number of activities to promote communication work integrated in the implementation of Project 818 - Department of Population, contributing to improving population quality. International cooperation is also an important milestone with the Project "Empowering and enhancing economic status for women through improving access and use of reproductive health and family planning services and products" in Lao Cai province sponsored by Marie Stopes International (UK). The project has trained, coached and provided reproductive health care/family planning services to 200,000 people.

Proactively diversifying forms along with the active and responsible participation of the entire political system, population and development communication work has created positive changes from awareness to behavior of Lao Cai people: accepting the small family model, reducing the number of children born to the third child or more, reducing early marriage... Thereby contributing significantly to the goal of improving population quality and sustainable development of the locality.

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/truyen-thong-dong-bo-tich-cuc-hieu-qua-post888134.html