HÀ NỘI — Phan Thị Hạnh has become the first Vietnamese national to win the Midwives4all Award for excellence in midwifery and outstanding contribution to maternal and newborn health in Việt Nam.

She received the award at a ceremony held on Wednesday by the Swedish Embassy and the International Confederation of Midwives in Hà Nội.

Hạnh said the award was a great honour, for her in particular and for the association in general. It also instilled a greater sense of responsibility towards the wellbeing of new mothers and infants.

“It’s also a challenge for us because it urges us to work harder for the health of mothers, children and the community, and to make more effort to reduce maternal and infant mortality rate,” she said.

As the chairwoman of the Việt Nam Association of Midwives (VAM), Hạnh has set up a programme titled “Establishing the model of a women’s health centre and capacity development for rural midwives” aimed at providing needy mothers with easy access to reproductive health in the remote areas.

The project was later funded by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Through the project, VAM has provided reproductive health services to more than 2,000 women in the medically underserved areas in the provinces of Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị and Thừa Thiên-Huế.

At the ceremony, Swedish Ambassador to Việt Nam Camillia Mellander said the improvement of healthcare not only benefited mothers and infants, but also the whole society.

Thousands of midwives around the world and in Việt Nam had worked hard to the save lives of women and children, creating social change, she said.

Midwives4all is part of a global awareness campaign with the same name launched in 2015 by the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs with the aim to increase the number of midwives around the globe. — VNS