Vietnam will focus on shifting from family planning to a population development policy.

On July 11th, in Hanoi, the Ministry of Health organized a rally to commemorate World Population Day (July 11th) and celebrate the 30th anniversary of the implementation of the Action Program on Population and Development.

At the rally, Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan, Deputy Head of the Standing Committee of the National Steering Committee on Population and Development, stated that in order to achieve the goals in Resolution No. 21-NQ/TW of the Party on population work in the new situation and the Vietnam Population Strategy to 2030, the Ministry of Health has chosen the theme "Investing in population work is investing in sustainable development" to call on all levels, sectors, international organizations, and development partners to continue to pay attention to and invest in Vietnam's population work, contributing to the country's rapid and sustainable development.

Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan speaks at the rally.

In the coming period, the Ministry of Health will continue to research and assess the current state of population work and factors affecting the sustainable development of the country, in order to advise competent authorities on socio -economic development orientations, especially policies related to population aging and reducing the birth rate. At the same time, it will focus on developing a draft Population Law with the goal of shifting the policy focus from family planning to population and development, expected to be submitted to the Government in December 2024 and to the National Assembly in October 2025.

"Vietnam lacks experience in encouraging increased fertility rates in low-fertility regions and adapting to population aging, given the limitations in investment resources. Therefore, I sincerely hope that the international community will share and provide financial and technical support," the Minister of Health emphasized, and requested relevant ministries, agencies, and the People's Committees of provinces and cities to pay attention to leading and directing population work, integrating population factors into local socio-economic development policies and projects.

According to Mr. Le Thanh Dung, Director of the Population Department, along with the achievements, population work is facing many challenges. Most worrying is the trend of declining birth rates in southern provinces and cities since 2020, causing the national birth rate in 2023 to fall to 1.96 children per woman, the lowest in history, and projected to continue declining in subsequent years. Along with this, Vietnam's population aging rate is very rapid. Since 2011, Vietnam has officially entered the aging population phase and is one of the countries with the fastest aging rate in the world. It is projected that by 2038, Vietnam will enter the period of an aging population, meaning that one in five people will be over 60 years old.

NATIONAL

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/viet-nam-se-tap-trung-chuyen-tu-ke-hoach-hoa-gia-dinh-sang-chinh-sach-dan-so-phat-trien-post748891.html