The Draft Population Law raises issues of population quality from afar, early on.

On the afternoon of November 26, the online exchange program with the theme "Vietnam's Population Work - The Foundation for the Country's Sustainable Development" organized by the People's Representative Newspaper focused on in-depth analysis of the Population Law project - the law being presented at the 10th Session of the 15th National Assembly .

Improving population quality in the new situation

At the sharing session, delegates unanimously agreed that the promulgation of the Population Law this time is extremely necessary, aiming to raise the 2003 Population Ordinance to a new level, creating a solid legal foundation for the national population policy, affirming the shift in focus from family planning to population and development, considering population as the center, goal and driving force of sustainable development.

According to Deputy Director of the Department of Population Pham Vu Hoang, the Law Project has added many new contents with many policies to solve current population problems. The Population Law Project specifies 4 major policies that have been approved by the Government, and at the same time does not overlap with other laws: Maintaining replacement fertility; minimizing gender imbalance at birth; adapting to population aging, aging population; improving population quality. In addition, there are contents on communication, advocacy, education about population and conditions to ensure the implementation of population work in the direction of population and development approach.

To implement these four policies, the draft Law has many new, groundbreaking provisions compared to the 2003 Population Ordinance. For example, to maintain the replacement fertility rate, the Law stipulates an increase in maternity leave when giving birth to a second child; financial support for certain groups, such as ethnic minority women with very few people, women in localities with low fertility rates, women who give birth to two children before the age of 35; additional priority criteria for buying or renting social housing...

"We have selectively consulted international experiences that are suitable for Vietnamese culture. Specifically, measures to improve population quality applied in the world include regulations on organizing "prenatal and newborn screening, pre-marital health check-ups". This is the content added in the Draft Population Law", Mr. Hoang shared.

Ensuring consistency and synchronization

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Mai, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Society, emphasized that the Population Law is a law with a very broad scope, directly related to people and human rights. Government agencies have had a thorough preparation process, had enough time to build the necessary conditions, assess the impact and complete the dossier. When the draft Law was revised and submitted to the National Assembly, it received very high support from relevant agencies, National Assembly deputies as well as society, affirming the necessity of promulgating the Law.

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Mai, Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Social Affairs.

The Law's objective is to synchronously resolve population issues in the new situation, through comprehensive adjustments to contents related to population size, structure, and quality, especially emerging issues such as adapting to population aging.

During the process of drafting the Population Law, the Ministry of Health held many consultation conferences with ministries, branches, localities and relevant agencies to complete the draft to submit to the Government and the National Assembly. When the draft was submitted to the National Assembly, the reviewing agency and National Assembly deputies also contributed many rich opinions.

Population work is related to many laws and codes, including direct and indirect laws. Therefore, ensuring consistency and synchronization in the legal system is a very important task. One of the important points of the draft Law is to add a provision on the State's population policy; some detailed contents will be regulated in specialized laws, but ensuring that population work is implemented consistently and effectively.

Sharing some highlights of the Draft Law, Professor, Dr. Nguyen Dinh Cu said that the draft has a separate chapter on population communication. Therefore, it is necessary to promote communication work to raise people's awareness.

Professor, Dr. Nguyen Dinh Cu believes that we should not be impatient when the Law is issued to achieve its goals, but we need time and perseverance. "The important thing is to strictly implement, closely monitor, and strictly handle it so that the Law can be effective in life," Professor Cu said.

From the perspective of industry management, Dr. Pham Vu Hoang emphasized that the draft Law stipulates decentralization and delegation of power to local authorities at the provincial level to decide on a number of measures proactively and flexibly. Based on the socio-economic situation, population dynamics and budget balance, localities can decide on specific measures and financial support levels, but not lower than the level prescribed by the Government. This design is considered to ensure policy consistency nationwide and create proactive space for localities.

Mr. Vu Duy Hung, Head of the Department of Population, Children and Social Evils Prevention and Control of Hanoi City.

At the program, Mr. Vu Duy Hung, Head of the Hanoi Department of Population, Children and Social Evils Prevention and Control, shared that in order to reduce gender imbalance at birth and bring the sex ratio at birth back to a natural balance, the Draft Law on Population and media content have emphasized the elimination of gender prejudice and the elimination of male preference over female. The Department will strengthen community communication to change the whole society's awareness of the value of women and girls.

THIEN LAMB

Source: https://nhandan.vn/du-thao-luat-dan-so-dat-ra-cac-van-de-ve-chat-luong-dan-so-tu-xa-tu-som-post925979.html