A farmer takes care of her chicken farm in Phú Xuyên Village, Phú Châu Commune in Ba Vì District. — VNA/VNS Photo Vũ Sinh

HÀ NỘI — At least 85 per cent of elderly people undergo periodic health check-ups at least once a year in communes of ethnic groups and mountainous areas.

This is one of the targets set forth in the project aimed at caring for people's health and improving the physical condition and stature of ethnic groups. The project has been initiated by the Hà Nội People’s Committee and is part of the National Target Programme for Socio-Economic Development in ethnic groups and mountainous areas, phase one, scheduled for the period of 2023-25 in the capital city.

The project will be implemented in 13 communes across four districts, including seven in Ba Vì District, three in Thạch Thất District, two in Quốc Oai District, and one in Mỹ Đức District.

Its primary objective is to enhance the health of ethnic groups in terms of physical and mental well-being, stature, and life expectancy.

The project aims to strengthen grassroots healthcare, ensuring that ethnic people have access to quality and modern services, as well as adequate nutrition for mothers and children. Furthermore, it seeks to control and gradually eliminate epidemics in ethnic groups and mountainous areas, thereby contributing to the socio-economic development of these regions.

The project will support training for doctors and nurses in the fields of engineering and medicine in poor and disadvantaged districts.

Additionally, under the project, 95 per cent of pregnant women will receive antenatal care at least four times during their pregnancy, and over 99.9 per cent of women will give birth at a health facility or with the support of a medical worker.

The project aims to maintain the maternal mortality rate below 10 cases per 100,000 live births and keep the under-one-year-old child mortality rate below four per cent.

Other objectives of the project include reducing the rate of stunting malnutrition in children under five years old to less than three per cent and reducing the rate of underweight malnutrition in those children to 6.8 per cent.

The Hà Nội People's Committee has assigned the municipal Department of Health (DoH) as the standing agency responsible for advising the committee on directing the plan's implementation.

The people's committees of Ba Vì, Thạch Thất, Quốc Oai, and Mỹ Đức districts are responsible for creating plans to execute the project in their respective areas until 2025 and annually thereafter.

These four districts must actively coordinate with the DoH in formulating specific tasks to ensure the achievement of the set targets." — VNS