Changing perceptions to escape poverty

The high number of women in childbearing age puts pressure on the birth rate, the number of children born and the number of children born to the third child or more is still high, plus the mentality of wanting to have more children and having a son is still quite common,... are difficulties and challenges for many localities in Cam Khe district in improving population quality, towards the goal of sustainable poverty reduction.

Step by step, overcoming difficulties, diversifying forms of propaganda and mobilization according to the motto "slow and steady wins the race" to change people's awareness and actions is a regular task that the team of population workers in Cam Khe district is actively implementing...

Ngo Xa commune population officers communicate and introduce contraceptive methods and reproductive health care services to women.

As usual, every Thursday afternoon, the loudspeaker of Ngo Xa commune broadcasts news and articles on population work. At the same time, on key days of reproductive health care campaigns, World Thalassemia Prevention Day, etc., news, articles and announcements are broadcast to inform the general public. Coordination and propaganda work is also carried out flexibly, in accordance with practical conditions.

Having been involved in local population work for many years, Ms. Phan Thi Huyen - Population Officer of Ngo Xa commune shared: "Due to religious beliefs, many Catholic women do not dare to publicly disclose their use of contraceptives. For Ngo Xa, the methods, content, and forms of propaganda and education are always innovated to suit the local psychology, customs, and practices. The main content focuses on propaganda and mobilization to reduce births and give birth to 3 or more children, gender imbalance at birth, and activities to improve population quality." Thanks to persistent implementation of communication and mobilization measures, the commune's poverty rate has been reduced to 8.16%.

Identifying communication and behavior change mobilization as an important step in the population/reproductive health/family planning program, from the beginning of the year, the District Health Center has advised and issued plans to direct the strengthening of communication and education work to change people's behavior on population/reproductive health/family planning, with diverse innovations in content and form with many types and models suitable to the psychology, customs and practices of each locality and each subject; targeting especially difficult communes and communes with a large number of Catholics.

Accordingly, in the first 9 months of 2024, the Center coordinated with the Department of Education and Training to organize 25 extracurricular activities, talks on gender, reproductive health care for adolescents and youth, and prevention of child abuse. Communes and towns in the district organized communication activities to reduce gender imbalance at birth; maintained the activities of 15 typical girls' clubs and 6 friendly corners in secondary schools; organized 24 communication conferences on elderly health care for more than 960 people; distributed 5,000 leaflets promoting elderly health care.

The District Health Center has coordinated with the Women's Unions of communes and towns to organize 138 direct communication conferences on reproductive health care/family planning for nearly 4,000 mothers with children of adolescent age, maintaining the activities of 24 clubs for mothers with adolescent children, 287 groups of women who do not have a third child or more. Visual propaganda activities with 144 banners contributed to raising people's awareness of population and development policies... Thereby, helping people understand that reproductive health care/family planning is necessary, a way to escape poverty, children can be educated and cared for more fully.

Ms. Vu Thi Hong Nhung in Trung Thuan 1 area, Yen Tap commune shared: "With the current economic conditions of the family, my husband and I can easily have more children without worrying much about the cost. However, when the commune population officers and population collaborators in the area propagandized about family planning, the family decided to stop at 2 children to raise the children well and focus on business and economic development."

Thanks to innovation and diversification of communication forms, methods and content suitable to each locality and each target group, it has contributed to improving the effectiveness of population work in the new situation, thereby practically contributing to building a prosperous and happy life, reducing poverty due to having many children.

Hong Nhung

Source: https://baophutho.vn/thay-doi-nhan-thuc-de-thoat-ngheo-222022.htm