Country Report of Vietnam

Vietnam
Speaker: Mr. Cao Van Thanh, Standing Vice-President of Vietnam Blind Association

In previous WBUAP Regional Seminars on Massage, because massage of Vietnamese blind did not develop, Vietnam Bind Association did not attend. In recent years, with the integration trend and development of massage in Vietnam, we find it is our responsibility to attend this seminar to forward its theme: "Developing, Advancing and Sharing".

Vietnam Blind Association was established on April 17, 1969. The task of VBA is to gather the blind nationwide to take care of their life, culture, employment and education. Its aim is to help the blind to have stable life, integrate into their family and the society.

The major purpose of VBA is to create jobs with stable income for the blind; therefore, VBA has its policies to develop traditional jobs such as handicraft, farming and including massage. This job appeared in Vietnam many years ago. Before the establishment of VBA, the blind in Vietnam learnt massage from the others; they worked as masseurs individually and spontaneously at bus stations, ports, or in populous areas, etc.

1. On technology: At the resent time, with the development of science, technology and medicine, we cannot develop massage as an oral job without techniques. In some universities and colleges for medicine, students learn massage with the combination between oriental and western medicine. VBA has opened many massage training courses, combining theory and practical, giving more time for practical skills.

2. On vocational training: Massage is a kind of clinical and health job. If one blind person wants to practice massage, they have to pass a 3-6 month training course organized by VBA at levels and functioned medical universities. Vietnamese government presently supports VBA for massage training and VBA train around 300 massagers each year.

3. When the market develops, the intensity of the labor is also increased. The need for health recovery increases after a hard working day. People find massage as a way of relaxing. Beside its major functions such as relaxing and health recovering, massage of VBA has some other effects as health treatment for diseases: headache, nervous depression, insomnia, hypertention, hemiplegia, backache, influenza, sciatic nerve, etc. For medical treatment, we also combine between massage and sauna, cup, herbal bath.

4. Due to massage service outside develops, especially in hotels and restaurants; and most of masseuses are young girls. At the same time, massage service of the blind also develops with the equal technicians of masseurs and masseuses. In some centers, people ask for men than women. It is a fact of competition between massage units if there are more massage centers. In VBA ourselves, competition occurs among centers and between centers under operation of the association and units under individual management. Therefore, VBA's orientation is to set up regulations on organizing massage services in order to arrange and organize healthy competition to create equal opportunities with stable income for everybody. It is one way to enhance the prestige for massage units of VBA. The aim of these regulations is to strengthen multi-sector service of massage, giving priority to ones under the management of VBA and decentralizing management: the central level will be responsible for the whole orientation, associations at city and provincial levels will build administration; and associations at district levels will set up detailed regulations.

For multi-sector service, massage units have to follow common regulations such as regulations on practising of Ministry of Health, on the right processes, healthy and fairy competition following the development of the market economy. Besides, these centers have to follow policies on salary, social security and health insurance for technicians.

5. Presently, VBA manages nearly 100 massage units, attracting about 1000 labors. Besides, there are also more than 70 individual massage groups and teams operating under VBA guidelines, attracting over 300 labors. Hundreds of other blind members open massage service at their home. Average income for one massager is about 800,00 VND per month, double income in compared with other jobs.

Different from outside massage units, skilled techniques and good relation in serving are typical characters about massage of the blind. With these characters, VBA massage is accepted by the community and stably operating in the market. VBA massage becomes the major job for the blind in Vietnam.

Recently, VBA has its opportunities for study visits about Anma massage in Japan, exchanges massage technique in Thailand, Laos and some other countries. VBA would like to study and exchange this kind of job in the region to improve massage technique for Vietnamese blind, developing rapidly and strongly massage in region.