Creating a shift in awareness about population

According to the agenda of the 10th session, on December 10th, the National Assembly will vote to approve the Population Law project. This is a law that has attracted great social attention because it regulates many issues that directly affect the rights of the people. Regarding this matter, a reporter from SGGP newspaper had an interview with Mr. Nguyen Hoang Mai, Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Social Affairs.

* REPORTER: Sir, the draft Population Law is considered to mark a significant shift in the understanding of population work in the new context. Could you briefly outline this "shift"?

* Mr. NGUYEN HOANG MAI: Vietnam's population work is facing very significant challenges. The birth rate is trending downwards, falling below the replacement level. Society is aging at a very rapid pace, there is a gender imbalance, and the quality of the population still has many problems. These are the reasons why there is an urgent need to develop and enact a Population Law that shifts the focus from family planning to population and development.

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

* In your opinion, what is the biggest challenge to maintaining replacement fertility levels?

More precisely, the draft law aims to "adjust" birth rates to increase in low-income areas and decrease in high-income areas, maintaining population stability through measures such as one-time financial support for women giving birth to a second child. Couples who have two children and commit to not having more will be considered for support in social housing, tuition fee exemptions for their children, priority access to loans; increased investment in public nurseries and kindergartens to reduce the burden of childcare for families…

* The draft law even includes some new and rather "unusual" policies, such as: men with two children whose wives have passed away will be considered for social housing. However, people will only feel secure having children when they see a safe living environment and manageable healthcare and education costs... Do you think the policies in the draft law are sufficiently encouraging?

* I believe that the policies outlined in the draft law are an effort to address the current socio -economic development conditions in our country. However, these policies are still short-term and immediate, and are not the main factors influencing people's decision to have more children, especially for couples in urban areas, where we are strongly encouraging this.

During the process of contributing to the drafting of the law, National Assembly representative Nguyen Thien Nhan (Ho Chi Minh City) made a pertinent observation: "Ensuring a minimum wage so that a working person can support themselves and one child is the most important direct condition for maintaining the replacement fertility rate." In reality, policies aimed at improving the quality of the population, such as building more public schools and children's hospitals, and improving living environments, are the most sustainable and effective measures to encourage childbirth. However, the greatest value of this law lies in its focus on changing social awareness, from government levels to the entire population, helping them to be more clearly aware of their personal and organizational responsibilities in ensuring the sustainable development of the nation.

Newborn care at Tu Du Hospital (Ho Chi Minh City). Photo: THANH SON

* It's not just about encouraging the maintenance of replacement fertility rates; we also need to address gender discrimination. In many places, the desire for sons to uphold family traditions and ancestor worship remains strong, leading to sex-selective abortions and gender imbalance.

* Changing these perceptions requires a long time and many different methods, and is the responsibility of the entire society, including the press and media. However, it should also be made clear that the Population Law is not the only legal document regulating population work; it needs to be placed within a related legal system.

Regarding pro-natalist policies, I believe that the policies mentioned above are primarily short-term. Long-term policies for human development, which in essence are human development, depend heavily on other relevant laws, such as: gender equality, social security, education, employment, healthcare, housing, etc.

* As you mentioned, the Population Law is not the only legal document regulating population work and needs to be placed within the context of related legal systems. At this session, what other population-related issues will the National Assembly decide on?

* At its 10th session, the National Assembly will also consider and approve the Law on Disease Prevention. This draft law also has many contents closely related to the Law on Population, such as prenatal screening, preventive intervention activities, etc. In addition, the National Assembly will also consider and approve the national target program on people's health care and some other related issues. In short, achieving physically and mentally healthy citizens requires a whole process, from deciding to have children to pregnancy, childbirth, nurturing, and care.

* One of the controversial issues in this draft law is abortion and sex selection. How does the draft regulate this, and what is your view as a member of the review committee?

* Issues related to abortion and sex selection are indeed controversial, not only in Vietnam. The draft law still maintains the prohibition of sex selection in all forms, including all actions such as disclosing information, using technical methods, and abortion for sex selection... Abortion itself is not prohibited; the law only prohibits abortion for the purpose of sex selection. I believe this regulation is appropriate.

* Also related to population issues are assisted reproductive technologies and surrogacy?

* This law does not directly regulate assisted reproduction and surrogacy. That issue will be considered in specific programs and projects later. However, during the drafting and finalization of the law, there were many suggestions to use a portion of the budget to intervene and support cases facing difficulties in reproduction.

Performed by ANH THU

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/tao-buoc-chuyen-nhan-thuc-ve-dan-so-post823815.html