Health of female workers improves
Ha Noi, March 5 (VNA) -- Much effort has been made to impove the health of Viet Nam's female workers during the past decade, says Health Minister Do Nguyen Phuong.
Priority policies for women have included social insurance, retirement, health care, child and family planning and finance for enterprises to upgrade work conditions or re-arrange work that is unsuitable for women.
The State has also defined work suitable for women and banned employers from using them for heavy, toxic and dangerous occupations harmful to their general and reproductive health.
Phuong says female workers in production establishments are given regular health checks and those suffering from occupational disease have received insurance and compensation. The expansion of the national medical network has meant that 70.5 percent of female farmers have been treated at commune medical stations.
Many healthcare programmes for mothers and children as well as for the prevention of malnutrion in pregnant women have been implemented including in mountain and remote areas.
As a result, the health of female labourers has remarkably improved. The average life expectancy for Viet Nam's females is 70 year, higher than that of males. About 84 percent of pregnant women receive regular medical check-ups and the mortality rate among mothers is falling.
However the rate of women workers suffering from occupational diseases in several industries remains high because of poor working conditions and obsolete technology.
Viet Nam has more than 36.7 million people of woking age with females accounting for more than 50 percent. Females working in textile and spinning industry represent 75 percent of the workforce; garment industry, 80 percent; leather shoes industry, 85 percent; aquatic produce processing, 85 percent; educational services, 70 percent, healthcare services, 63 percent; and agricultural production, more than 80 percent.
All staff of the kindergarten services are women.--VNA
