From 11th January to 6th February, JOICFP conducted JICA Country Focused Training for Community-based Reproductive Health Promotion for ten Vietnamese central and provincial level health officials. With three main objectives, the seminar aimed to show the participants Japanese experiences in effective health promotion through close collaboration between GO and NGOs.

Seminar objectives

1. The roles of local government
2. The roles of community organizations
3. The promotion of quality RH services through, for example, client-friendly services.

Seminar participants learn about the spirit
of client-friendly services
with staff of Katsushika Red Cross Hospital, Tokyo

Through lectures and discussions in Tokyo, and a field trip to Kagoshima prefecture, the trainees learned about and observed:

• Health administration and statistics, and MCH administration and policy
• Experiences in community-operated RH, MCH and FP promotion, MCH promoter's activities, and community participation
• NGO experiences in health promotion, client-friendly services by maternity hospitals, hospital management and primary school health education

Action plan

The trainees developed action plans based on seminar experiences, with a view to integrating what they had learned into their respective areas of responsibility.

Regarding objective 1

Have a common RH and MCH policy at each level of administration, and develop it by reflecting community needs.
Improve health statistics systems so that central government can provide accurate data to all administration levels.

Regarding objective 2

Further develop collaboration between GOs and mass/community organizations, such as the Women's Union.
Maximize community effectiveness by encouraging people's initiative in health promotion.
Further develop collaboration among mass/community organizations.

Regarding objective 3

Improve the quality or RH services to benefit client-friendly services.
Introduce sex and health education classes into junior high schools.
Nurture people's will to promote and care for their own health.

Emphasizing GO-NGO collaboration,
volunteer MCH promoters assist
in health check activities carried
out by the municipality of Higashi Ichiki, Kagoshima

Through the seminar, the participants learned about Japanese ways in health promotion, especially the development of community spirit through slogans such as "One for All, All for One."

A street corner health check by Co-op members
of Kagoshima Co-op Hospital

Participants from Nghe An Province shared lessons learned as well as experiences in the Vietnam RH Project conducted by JICA and JOICFP, with other provinces, thereby developing collaboration among the participants to disseminate future experiences of the project as a model for other provinces in Vietnam.