Reforming the issuance of birth certificates to prevent the sale of newborn babies

On August 15, the Ministry of Health informed that the Department of Mothers and Children has just sent a document to the Department of Health of 34 provinces and cities; Hospitals under the Ministry of Health and health care of ministries and branches on rectifying the issuance and use of birth certificates, preventing the exploitation of buying and selling newborn babies.

According to Deputy Director of the Department of Mothers and Children Nguyen Van Chi, recently many mass media have continuously reported and published articles reflecting on the situation of fake birth certificates, fake seals, birth certificates and assisting in the buying and selling of newborn babies.

In order to ensure the quality of the issuance and use of birth certificates and prevent the exploitation of child trafficking, the Ministry of Health requests the Directors of the Departments of Health of provinces and cities, Directors of Hospitals under the Ministry of Health, Heads of Health Ministries and sectors to strengthen direction and thoroughly instruct medical examination and treatment facilities providing midwifery services under the management of provinces and cities to seriously implement the issuance and use of birth certificates in accordance with regulations.

Licensing agencies need to check the identity documents of the pregnant woman before issuing a birth certificate, to prevent cases of taking advantage of legalizing the birth certificate, aiding and abetting child trafficking and illegal surrogacy (also known as hiring a surrogate mother).

Relevant units shall interconnect electronic data of birth certificates with interconnected public service software according to the provisions of Decree No. 63/2024/ND-CP dated June 10, 2024 of the Government regulating the implementation of electronic interconnection of 02 groups of administrative procedures: birth registration, permanent residence registration, issuance of health insurance cards for children under 6 years old; death registration, deletion of permanent residence registration, settlement of burial fees and death benefits.

Units coordinate with the Department of Justice to direct and guide the People's Committees at the commune level to check the mother's identity when carrying out birth registration procedures, especially in cases where birth certificates are not connected on public service software, to prevent cases of using fake birth certificates to legalize child trafficking.

In case of discovery or suspicion of individuals or organizations buying and selling children, it is necessary to notify the Ministry of Health (Department of Mothers and Children) via hotline number 111./.

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/chan-chinh-viec-cap-giay-chung-sinh-de-phong-tranh-mua-ban-tre-so-sinh-post1055914.vnp