Scope of healthcare activities for village and hamlet health workers in Vietnam

Scope of healthcare activities for village and hamlet health workers in Vietnam

The scope of healthcare activities for village and hamlet health workers is as follows:

- For people in the village and hamlet:

+ Detecting dangerous signs, providing initial first aid in emergency and accident situations; participating in transferring cases requiring emergency care.

+ Providing initial treatment, caring for some common symptoms and illnesses in the community, and referring to medical facilities when necessary: cough, fever, nasal congestion, headache, abdominal pain, upper respiratory tract infection, acute diarrhea, red eye, flu, dengue fever, rash, allergic dermatitis, measles, mumps, hand-foot-and-mouth disease, and other common illnesses based on the characteristics of each locality.

+ Providing guidance and counseling on some health care measures; community disease prevention and control.

+ Participating in the management, screening, counseling, and guidance of health care for the elderly, people with disabilities, mental health conditions, and those with non-communicable diseases: hypertension, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, bronchial asthma, and cancer.

- For mothers and children in the village and hamlet:

+ Providing care for pregnant women, detecting any abnormal signs, providing initial treatment, and supporting referrals for pregnant women, mothers, and newborns.

+ Handling unplanned deliveries for pregnant women who cannot reach healthcare facilities for childbirth and reporting to the commune health station.

+ Providing guidance, counseling, monitoring, and home care for mothers and newborns during the first 6 weeks after childbirth.

+ Providing guidance on simple measures for monitoring and caring for children's health, and preventing and treating malnutrition in children under 16 years old; participating in activities to improve children's nutrition status: weighing, measuring, measuring mid-upper arm circumference, plotting growth charts for children under 5 years old; counseling on breastfeeding and appropriate complementary feeding for children.

+ Distributing iron/folic acid products to pregnant women, mothers, and products for prevention, control, and treatment of malnutrition for children according to the guidance of the commune health station (if available), combined with guidance, monitoring, and follow-up at households.

- Managing and effectively using Village Health Kits; supporting commune health stations in instructing patients to use essential, safe, rational, and effective medicines.

- The list of technical expertise for healthcare examination and treatment for village and hamlet health workers is specified in Appendix 01 issued with Circular 27/2023/TT-BYT.

More details can be found in Circular 27/2023/TT-BYT, taking effect on January 1, 2024.

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