Hanoi (VNA) - To date, no country in the world has enacted a standalone Population Law. Viet Nam is therefore the first to draft and promulgate such legislation. The Population Law is expected to establish a unified and coherent legal framework to institutionalise the Party’s guidelines and policies on population, address existing shortcomings, and meet the demands of population and development work in a new context.
Le Thanh Dung made the remarks at a press briefing on November 7 to provide information on the draft law.
Four major policy pillars
According to Dung, the law aims to comprehensively and promptly translate the Party and State’s policies on population into law. It builds on the Population Ordinance while safeguarding the lawful rights and interests of individuals and organisations involved in population work. The drafting process has also drawn on international legal experience to ensure consistency with international treaties to which Viet Nam is a signatory.
Pham Vu Hoang, Deputy Director General of the Population Department, said the draft law retains and revises 10 articles, amends one, and abolishes 26 articles of the 2003 Population Ordinance in order to address practical challenges and shortcomings in population management.
The Ministry of Health has proposed adding 15 new articles covering population communication, advocacy and education; adjustments to population size, structure and distribution; improvement of population quality; and conditions to ensure effective implementation of population policies.
Compared with the Population Ordinance, the draft Population Law introduces a number of new elements, with a focus on codifying four major policy pillars: maintaining replacement-level fertility, reducing the sex imbalance at birth, adapting to population ageing, and improving population quality.
To help maintain replacement-level fertility, the draft law proposes several new incentives, including extended maternity leave, financial support for childbirth, and priority access to social housing in accordance with housing regulations. The proposed beneficiaries include ethnic minority women, women living in low-fertility areas, and those who have two children before the age of 35.
Priority access to social housing
Addressing public concern over eligibility for priority access to social housing, Le Thanh Dung clarified that such priority would apply to men with two children whose wives have died, rather than to unmarried men with two children. He added that several groups would be eligible for priority, including women who have given birth to two children.
Dung said the draft law has been reviewed and refined with input from experts and scientists before submission to the National Assembly, in order to prevent legal loopholes.
According to the Ministry of Health, if the sex imbalance at birth remains high, Viet Nam could face a surplus of 1.5 million men aged 15–49 by 2034, rising to 1.8 million by 2059.
To address this challenge, the draft law prohibits all forms of fetal sex selection, except in cases where sex identification is required for the diagnosis and treatment of sex-linked genetic diseases. It also encourages communities to incorporate principles of gender equality and opposition to sex selection into local conventions and community codes.
Medical practitioners who disclose fetal sex information in violation of regulations would face suspension, except in medically justified cases as defined by the Ministry of Health.
To adapt to population ageing, the draft law includes measures to strengthen elderly care, develop a workforce for elder services, and protect older people’s lawful rights. It also recognises the growing demand for elderly care facilities and proposes the development of day-care and semi-residential centres eligible for investment incentives.
To improve population quality, the draft law proposes premarital health counselling and check-ups, as well as prenatal and newborn screening, diagnosis and treatment.
The law also sets out provisions on human resources and funding to ensure effective and sustainable implementation of population policies./.
