Improving capability of communicating social insurance and health insurance

The seminar gathers SI and HI managers and practitioners, media researchers and educators, journalists

The press goes hand in hand with Vietnam's SI

Social insurance (SI) and health insurance (HI) are two important means of the Vietnam's Party and State and two pillars of its social welfare system, contributing to social fairness. They also constitute an important barometer of state and social development and progress.

In 2018, the number of people registering for SI in Vietnam is 13.79 million, employment insurance (EI) 11.69 million and SI 80.55 million, all accounting for 85.9% of the entire population. These are impressive numbers that demonstrate the great efforts by Vietnam Social Insurance (VSI) in introducing the Party and State's policies and bringing useful benefits to citizens. One of the important factors contributing to this has been the effective coordination between VSI and media agencies. 

Prof. Dr Nguyen Van Kim (USSH's Vice Rector) speaks at the Seminar

According to Dr. Doan Van Bau (Vice Director of Center for Information and Political Propaganda, Central Propaganda and Training Commission), given the internal need for improving legal policies, as well as the important role of media in creating, perfecting and implementing SI and HI policies, different bodies including VSI and the Party's press agencies have to coordinate more closely and fully demonstrate their obligations and responsibilities. In 2017 alone, mass media in Vietnam published 2.590 articles, reports, interviews, documentaries, editorials, seminars, online exchanges, dialogues, and TV shows about SI and HI. This number shows the frequency of articles dealing with this issue is rather high.    

Dr. Doan Van Bau (Vice Director of Center for Information and Political Propaganda, Central Propaganda and Training Commission) presents his paper "Communication about SI and HI policies by the Party's newspapers and the Commission's guiding instructions"

MA. Duong Ngoc Anh (Vice Director of the Communication Center, VSI) said: never before had information about SI and HI been abundant and accessible to the audience. VSI currently coordinates with over 70 press agencies to communicate about SI and HI to the population. In particular, 04 large newspapers that frequently coordinate with it to disseminate information about SI and HI to especially students and pupils are Tien phong, Thanh nien, Tuoi tre, and Thieu nien tien phong.

MA. Duong Ngoc Anh (Vice Director of the Communication Center, VSI) presents her paper "Communicating about SI and HI laws and policies to students, pupils: reality and solutions"

In 2017 alone there were over 7.000 reports, seminars, specialized pages, columns, direct dialogues, stories, and reflective articles about the implementation of SI, HI and EI policies and VSI's activities, including 300 stories targeted at students and pupils. In particular, at the beginning of the academic year, the SI Newspaper and SI Journal published a specialized series of articles about students' HI at schools. If during the academic year of 2010-2011, only approximately 70% of students and pupils registered for HI, during 2012-2013 this ratio reached 80%, during 2013-2014 85%; and at the end of 2016, it reached 92.5% with around 15.9 million students. Many local areas became bright spots for consistenly having more than 90% of students registering for HI, and with the cases of Hai Duong and Thai Binh it even reached 100%.

Journalist Tran Ngoc Ha (Head of the Culture-Society Division, Phap luat Viet Nam Newspaper) presents his paper "Accessing SI and HI information in Phap luat Viet Nam Newspaper)

From the perspective of Phap luat Viet Nam Newspaper, journalist Tran Ngoc Ha (Head of the Culture-Society Division) also confirmed that nowadays press agencies collaborate closely and efficiently with VSI. VSI has been highly interested in making information about SI and HI easily and fully accessible to the public. As for Phap luat Viet Nam Newspaper itself, most of its publications have sections dedicated to SI and HI. In addition, it has a column for SI and HI in the Culture-Society page, and a column titled "Explanations of SI and HI policies" in the page 'For readers'. During 2016-2017, 508 of its articles mentioned SI and HI, specifically concerning investigations and reflections of violations of SI and HI laws; criticism and supervision of the implementation and execution of HI laws; current issues surrounding SI and HI; instructions on implementing SI and HI policies; and explanations of SI and HI policies and laws.

Increase new communication methods and models  

Assoc. Prof. Dr Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen (Head of Division of Public Relations, Faculty of Journalism and Communication) chairs the conference

Despite the rather encouraging achievements, the experts said that communications about SI and HI in the context of the 4.0 revolution and digital advances have to be more diverse, quick and professional in accessing and conveying information and creating messages.

Saying that communications about SI and HI are still dry, monotonous and unattractive, MA. Nguyen Son Minh (Faculty of Journalism and Communication) said in the context of Internet-based digital platforms and mobile networks, it is necessary to experiment and embrace a new thinking in disseminating and explaining the Party's policies and lines in a flexible and easy-to-digest way because "the public likes to hear and watch media products before examining media messages". Viral video/viral clip is a suggestion. "Unsung Hero" is one of Thailand's most favorite ads generating 18 million interactions and one of the 10 viral clips that have the most global reach and in fact a successful life insurance message in Thailand. Its contents are simple, easily accessible, easy to share and spread via social networks, forums, websites, TVs, computers, and smart phones. This is an example that SI and HI media in Vietnam can learn from. 

MA. Nguyen Son Minh suggests new applications for communicating about SI and HI in Vietnam

Introducing experiences in using new media outlets in policy communication in South Korea, Assoc. Prof. Dr Do Thi Thu Hang (Academy of Journalism and Communication) emphasized social media and online tools are used as an essential group of methods and forms of communication in developed countries. Accordingly, the three most important applications in policy communication are social surveys; online communication programs and campaigns; and crisis management.

Dr. Do Anh Duc (Faculty of Journalism and Communication) said that in Vietnam SI and HI up to now have primarily been propagated via mass media, thereby making the reception process one-dimensional. And to convey the humanistic intentions of the Party's policies in accordance with the public's awareness and understanding, propaganda is not enough. Dr. Do Anh Duc also suggested the "participatory model" involving the public, with an emphasis on human's proactiveness, facilitating and encouraging the choices made by individuals and communities with regard to their purposes. In this model, citizens actively design a method for communicating and interacting with each other. They are the creators of their own methods, for example through a public activity or a game. Communicators play the important role of directing and providing ideas for individuals to learn and answers their questions themselves. Topics relating to SI and HI can be effectively applied with this model such as through sharing experiences, discussions, story-telling, multiple-choice questionnaire, problem solving and inquiries.

Dr. Do Anh Duc (Faculty of Journalism and Communication) suggests SI and HI communication models with the participation of the public