Illustrative image. (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – People from Hanoi have Vietnam’s longest life expectancy, estimated at more than 75 years old, 1.6 years higher than the national average, according to the Hanoi Population and Family Planning branch.
The branch unveiled the information at a conference held on December 25 to review the city’s performance in population – family planning and disease prevention in 2018 and chalk out plans for the next year. The event was chaired by Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Ngo Van Quy.
This year, Hanoi reported declines in birth rate and the number of third children and an increase in the rate of babies and pregnant women getting prenatal and newborn screening. The city’s sex ratio at birth dropped from 114 boys per 100 girls in 2017 to 113 boys per 100 girls in 2018, the branch reported.
The Hanoi Department of Health announced there were no cases of dangerous communicable diseases in the city this year while the number of dengue fever infections plunged nearly 90 percent from last year. In 2018, more than 2,100 people contracted hand-foot-and-mouth disease, 78 suffered from whooping-cough, 13 were infected with streptococcus suis and 10 with Japanese encephalitis but no fatalities was recorded.
In his remarks at the conference, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Ngo Van Quy outlined some major problems in local disease prevention, including poor disease early warning and communication systems. He was also concerned over the fact that many parents of infants are abandoning vaccines or delay vaccination.
Quy urged the health sector to tackle these issues in 2019. –VNA
VNA
