Residential health workers excitedly wait to receive monthly support

Excitedly waiting

At the age of 65, Dr. Pham Trung Phon in Zone 8, Thanh Binh Ward (Hai Duong City) is still working hard. In recent days, dengue fever has appeared frequently in the ward, so he has had to work harder. He has gone to every alley, knocked on every door, met every trader in Thanh Binh market to propagate and instruct households on how to prevent dengue fever. As a doctor, he also consults and provides primary health care to people at home, and supports the ward health station in health check-ups for people.

Dr. Phồn said that for more than 3 years now, although he has not received any allowance, he has still participated in medical work in residential areas, performing all tasks assigned by the Ward Health Station. "We are very happy to know that the Hai Duong Provincial People's Council has approved the support level for village and residential area medical staff. Although the support level is not much, this proves that residential area medical staff are still cared for and recognized for their important role in the frontline of people's health care," said Mr. Phồn.

For many years, residents of To residential area, Gia Loc town have been familiar with Ms. Mai Thi Hue, the area's medical staff. If there is anything unclear about the health care programs of the medical station, residents here always go to her to ask for information.

Over the past few years, despite not receiving any allowance, Ms. Hue has remained committed to her work. Like many other community health workers, she was very excited to learn that she was about to receive support. According to Ms. Hue, compared to village health workers, community health workers have a harder time because the area is larger and the population is larger.

Doctor Nguyen Van Kha, Deputy Head of Gia Loc Town Health Station, said that although they did not receive any allowances, 11 medical staff in residential areas still actively participated in their work. For them, disseminating medical knowledge to the people is not only a job but also a responsibility. This level of support will help medical staff earn more income and become more committed to the medical industry.

Rest assured that the "arms" are extended

Village and residential area health workers are the direct and closest force to the people to carry out the task of propagating and disseminating knowledge about health care and protection to the people. Thereby, contributing to improving the quality of health care for local people. This is also considered the "extended arm" of the health sector.

Working on the front lines of the epidemic, specialist II, Dinh Van Khiem, Head of Thanh Binh Ward Health Station (Hai Duong City) sees the importance of residential health workers. Doctor Khiem said that in all health care campaigns and propaganda campaigns, residential health workers are the core force. All cases of infectious diseases are captured and reported to the station by residential health workers.

Thanks to timely detection, most outbreaks were controlled and did not turn into large-scale epidemics. "Without medical staff in residential areas, controlling and taking care of people's health would be extremely difficult," said Dr. Khiem.

The mission of commune, ward and town health stations is to provide primary health care for people, carry out preventive work, promote health education and communication, and raise awareness of disease prevention. Implement many national health programs such as: expanded immunization, disease prevention, malnutrition prevention, maternal and child health care and protection... With such a large workload, health stations always need a team of active, professional and dedicated village and residential area health workers.

According to Mr. Vu Van Trinh, Head of the Organization and Administration Department, Hai Duong Department of Health, although the workload is large and time-consuming, from 2021 to now, only 909 village health workers have received a monthly allowance equal to 0.3 times the basic salary/person (according to Decision No. 3647/QD-UBND dated December 8, 2021 regulating the number and level of allowances for village health workers in communes in the province). The remaining 432 residential health workers are not entitled to this allowance. "Because they do not receive allowances, many residential areas no longer have health workers. This year, the health sector will coordinate with localities to review and recruit additional qualified residential health workers, then develop a budget estimate. It is expected that in early 2025, residential health workers will receive support," Mr. Trinh added.

At the 26th Session, delegates of the 17th Hai Duong Provincial People's Council unanimously approved a resolution stipulating the quantity and level of monthly support for medical staff in villages and residential areas in communes, wards and towns in Hai Duong province.

Thus, each village and residential area is assigned 1 medical staff.

Medical staff working in villages with less than 350 families and residential areas with less than 500 families will receive support equal to 0.3 times the basic salary/person/month. Medical staff working in villages with 350 families or more and residential areas with 500 families or more will receive support equal to 0.4 times the basic salary/person/month. It is expected that the total budget to support medical staff in villages and residential areas will be more than 13.1 billion VND/year.

This is an encouragement for medical staff in residential areas to work with peace of mind, actively prevent epidemics, and provide primary health care for local people; at the same time, promote efficiency and contribute to the completion of the goals of grassroots health programs.

TRAN HIEN