Ethnic groups lack quality health care, education

Ksor Phuoc, president of National Assembly's Ethnic Council affirmed this at a meeting in Hanoi on August 14, with the participation of policymakers and experts from international organisations.

Phuoc said improving the quality of human resources in ethnic areas was a key step toward meeting requirements for national development.

Statistics from the Government Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs (CEMA) revealed high illiteracy rates existed among ethnic people, especially in the northern uplands (12.7 percent) and Central Highland areas (11.3 percent).

In ethnic and mountainous areas, 70 percent of people work on farms and the rest work in industry, services and the trading sector.

Not only are many ethnic people untrained and illiterate, but many are also said to have limited stamina. There is a high rate of malnutrition in ethnic children, especially in northern upland areas (26 percent) and Central Highland areas (more than 27 percent). The average rate of the country is less than 20 percent.

The death ratio of children under one year old is also high. In some northern and Central Highland provinces, the death rate is double or triple the national average. The figure is 47.7 percent in Lai Chau, Dien Bien (39.7 percent), Ha Giang (37.5 percent) and Kon Tum (38.2 percent).

Life expectancy of ethnic people is also several years lower than the national average of 72.8 years.

Dr Phan Van Hung, Deputy Minister and Vice-Chairman of the CEMA said the high poverty rate among many ethnic groups is mainly to blame for high malnutrition and illiteracy.

Pratibha Mehta, United Nations Resident Co-ordinator, said while ethnic groups constituted only 14 percent of the population, they comprised half of those living in chronic poverty.

Hung said nearly 50 percent of people in ethnic areas are living under the poverty line and have little access to health care. He said many children are not fully fed and became thin, weak and vulnerable to disease.

He said 50 percent of health centres in some communes have limited facilities and 60 percent of commune-level health stations have no doctors.

Difficult transport conditions also hinder them from accessing full health services. So, nearly 40 percent of ethnic people in the northern uplands and 20 percent of those in the Central Highlands treat diseases and injuries themselves.

Hung said farm work, language barriers and tough travelling conditions caused children to drop out of school, leading to a high rate of illiteracy.

And vocational training centres fail to offer programmes based on the demand of labour markets.

Ksor Phuoc said it is necessary to address shifting cultivation and uncontrolled migration by establishing centralised housing units for 40 households each.

He said it will also help to popularise the Vietnamese language before children attend primary school. However, bi-lingual classes should be the norm for ethnic students between grades one and four, he said.

Phuoc also suggested that the State should help ethnic students with tuition fees and accommodation, and link vocational training with labour market demand.

Pratibha Mehta said the quality of health services should be enhanced, and technology used to improve water supplies and sanitation. Ethnic service providers, including doctors, nurses and teachers, could help reduce barriers and ensure local own people receive better health treatment and education.

She suggested more innovation could be used to reach ethnic people in remote areas. This could include exploring tele-services in health and education as they have been done in India and Bhutan.