Pointing out "bottlenecks" in task assignment at grassroots health facilities
Population officials, who have worked at commune and ward health stations for many years, participate in community health care activities; perform epidemic prevention, vaccination, and medical examination and treatment tasks... They and the grassroots health team go through every alley, knocking on every door in communication campaigns, mobilization, population statistics, reproductive health care, and family planning. However, when it comes to professional rights, they are outside many policies for the grassroots health force.
In 2023, Lao Dong Newspaper implemented a series of articles reflecting the inadequacies that tens of thousands of population officials across the country are facing. From specific stories in localities, the series pointed out a paradox that has lasted for many years: People who are working in the grassroots health system but are not fully recognized as subjects of policies for grassroots health.
The biggest bottleneck stems from the implementation of regulations related to regimes and policies for health officials. Although working at health stations, many population officials are not identified as health officials, leading to not being eligible for some professional preferential allowances like colleagues working in medical examination and treatment.
Besides, there is a situation of inappropriate job assignment. Many population officials are well-trained and have medical expertise, so they are assigned to perform medical tasks and tasks in addition to population work. The work is the same, the tasks are the same, but when they enjoy policies, population officials stand aside.
Low income and increasing work pressure in the context of the grassroots health sector having to shoulder many new tasks also make the lives of many population officials difficult.
It is worth mentioning that these inadequacies are not new. Many population officials have sent petitions and reflections through many channels for a long time.
From the reflections of the grassroots level, Lao Dong Newspaper chose to accompany them.
Articles published in 2023 not only stop at recounting individual stories but also try to point out the root cause of the problem, analyze policy inadequacies, and record opinions from workers, experts and management agencies.
After the series of articles, the issue of population officials continues to be concerned and considered by functional agencies. Many localities have sent petitions to relevant ministries and sectors to remove obstacles regarding job positions, remuneration regimes and management mechanisms for this team.
However, to this day, the biggest aspiration of many population officials has not completely become a reality.
Adding motivation to workers
There are people who have been attached to population work for more than 20 years. We go to the grassroots level, contact people every day, perform many tasks of the health sector but still always feel like we are a sideline force in the very system we are serving.
The articles of Lao Dong Newspaper in the past time have helped the voice of population officials to be known to more people. What we want most at this time is for functional agencies to soon have specific solutions to ensure fairness between work responsibility and policy regimes" - a population official in the Central region shared.
Representatives of the population officer group shared: "Over the past three years, although there have been still many difficulties, we feel that we are no longer alone on the journey to find justice. Each article of Lao Dong Newspaper, each opinion reflected in the newspaper has added motivation for population officers to continue to persistently propose. We do not expect to have private privileges, but only hope that the contributions of the population force will be properly recognized. If the obstacles regarding job positions, allowances and career policies are removed, it will be a great source of encouragement for the team to continue to contribute to population work in the new period.
