VietNamNet Bridge – The quality of living for Vietnamese was not high, but it was gradually increasing, said Do Ngoc Tan, head of the Department of Population and Family Planning.

A doctor treats an infant at the General Hospital in the northern province of Hung Yen. Taking care of children is important as their weight and height are indicators on the human development index. (Photo: VNS)

Tan said that in South-east Asia in 2008, Viet Nam ranked seventh out of the region's11 nations. And in 2009, its HDI was ranked at 116 among 182 countries world wide.

"Population quality is not high because the height and weight of the average Vietnamese is lower than in foreign countries, and the number of disabled people is also high," he said.

However, a recent survey by the Institute of Nutrition and the Ha Noi Medical University showed that the height of adults had increased by 2cm in the last 10 years.

However, this is still 6cm shorter than for adults in other Asian countries.

Longevity is another important indicator of HDI. While Vietnamese live to a ripe 72.8 years old, they lead a healthy life on average for only 66 years of this.

Director of the General Office for Population and Family Planning, Duong Quoc Trong, said Viet Nam had a high number of disabled people.

"We once estimated that about 6.3 per cent of the population was disabled, but a survey in 2009 showed that the real figure was 7.2 per cent," he said.

This means that in a population of nearly 87 million people, there are at least six million disabled – most of them since birth.

To improve the situation, Tan said his office had taken several measures, the most important being screening the newborn and prenatal screening.

Before they leave hospital babies are given blood and hearing tests to see if they have any serious or life-threatening conditions.

"Such diseases are rare, but they can affect a baby's physical and mental development," he said.

Pregnant women are also given ultrasound and blood tests to determine if there are any risks of birth defect.

"There is also screening for thyroid and G6PD enzyme deficiencies," he said.

Thyroid-gland decline can dull the brain and shorten life. Lack of G6PD enzyme can lead to jaundice and brain diseases.

Newborn and prenatal screenings are offered in 30 cities and provinces across the nation.

Tan said that this year, Viet Nam would begin to screen newborns for anaemia.

Population and Family Planning Centres also provide premarital health checks for couples in 497 communes in 42 provinces.

Since 2007, the Population and Family Planning Office has implemented a project to improve population quality of the Cong, Mang, La Hu and Shi La ethnic minorities in Lai Chau province in the north, and among ethnic minorities in Thanh Hoa, Quang Tri, Binh Dinh and Gia Lai provinces.

"We try to reduce early marriages and consanguineous marriages," said Tan.

In 2007, 80 per cent of ethnic minorities in the provinces married early. The figure has now been reduced to only 31 per cent.

The project also aims to improve education levels for ethnic people. As many as 90 per cent of children in the provinces go to school, an increase of 75 per cent compared with 2007.

Today, nearly 30 per cent of adults are literate, whereas in 2007 the figure was only 22 per cent.

Tan said that the Population and Family Planning Office encouraged schools, especially kindergartens, to pay attention to health care.

"Taking care of the health of those under five is important to increase their strength and height," he said.

Hoang Hong Thuy, principal of the Lang Thuong Kindergarten in Dong Da District, said that her school provided regular physical exercises for children and daily meals of pork bones and fish to increase their calcium intake.

"Maybe in 10 or 15 years we will be able to see the results," she said.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News