A national action month focusing on early prenatal and neonatal checks to ensure a healthy population was launched on Saturday in Hà Nội.— Photo giadinh.net.vn

HÀ NỘI — A national action month focusing on early prenatal and neonatal checks to ensure a healthy population was launched on Saturday in Hà Nội.

The launching ceremony for the National Action Month on Population was jointly organised by the General Office for Population and Family Planning (GOPFP) under the Ministry of Health and the Hà Nội People’s Committee.

The campaign aims at highlighting the need for prenatal diagnosis to have healthy babies as well as timely diagnosis and treatment of hereditary diseases, based on the premise that investing in population is investing in sustainable development.

Among other things, it will also stress the advisability of pre-marriage health examinations in living a happy family life.

Speaking at the launching ceremony, Vice President Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh highly appreciated the health sector’s efforts and achievements related to population and called for all sectors and society as a whole to enthusiastically join join the campaign to promote early prenatal and neonatal diagnosis and treatment.

Each worker and resident should be active in spreading knowledge and information on this issue, for it affects the future of the nation, she said.

Deputy Health Minister Nguyễn Viết Tiến said that domestic and international research showed congenital abnormalities in Việt Nam made up about 1.5-2 per cent of the total newborns, or 22,000-30,000 babies, every year.

To reduce the number of children affected with congenital abnormalities and reduce the burden on families and the society, the GOPFP has implemented programmes on conducting prenatal and neonatal health checks.

The programmes have covered all provinces and cities, but have only 35 per cent of newborns have received early diagnosis and treatment for several diseases, Tien said.

At the central level, pregnant women can visit six hospitals and centres to get prenatal and neonatal health checks and treatment: the Central Hospital for Obstetrics and Gynaecology, the Central Hospital of Paediatrics, the Huế University of Medicine and Pharmacy, the HCM City Từ Dũ Hospital, the Cần Thơ Screening Centre and the Nghệ An Screening Centre.

At the district level, pregnant women can go to population and family planning centres to receive medical advice, screening, health examinations and treatment.

Earlier, standing deputy director of GOPFP, Nguyễn Văn Tân, and deputy chairman of the Hà Nội People’s Committee, Ngô Văn Quý, kicked off a parade to spread messages related to the National Action Month on Population. — VNS