On the morning of October 23, at the 10th Session of the 15th National Assembly, Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan, authorized by the Prime Minister, presented a report on the draft Population Law.
Regarding the scope of regulation, according to the Minister of Health, the Law stipulates the maintenance of replacement fertility rates; minimizing gender imbalances at birth; adapting to population aging, elderly population; improving population quality; communication, mobilization, education on population; conditions to ensure the implementation of population work in the direction of population access and development.
The draft law does not stipulate the contents that have been adjusted in other laws.
Minister Dao Hong Lan said that compared to the Population Ordinance, the draft law has more specifically stipulated policies and measures on improving population quality, communication, mobilization, and education on population.
The draft law adds new contents compared to the provisions of the Population Ordinance. Accordingly, maintaining the replacement birth rate: increasing maternity leave, financial support when giving birth, adding priority criteria for buying or renting social housing according to the provisions of the law on housing.
Minimize gender imbalance at birth and bring the sex ratio at birth to a natural balance such as prohibiting the choice of fetal gender in any form except in cases of determining gender for diagnosis and treatment of gender-related genetic diseases.
Encourage the inclusion of male-led substances above female-led substances, and no gender choice at birth in the village wishes and conventions of the community.
Suspend medical practitioners who propagate, notify, or disclose information about the gender of the fetus to customers, except in cases of determining gender for diagnosis and treatment of gender-related genetic diseases as prescribed by the Ministry of Health.
Adapting to population aging, the elderly such as supporting elderly care, developing human resources to care for the elderly. Providing, handling information, notifying, denouncing violations, obstructing the elderly from exercising their legitimate rights.
Improve population quality such as consultation, pre-marriage health check-ups, screening, diagnosis, prenatal and newborn treatment.
Accordingly, Article 13 of the draft law stipulates measures to maintain replacement fertility: Increase maternity leave when giving birth to a second child: Women are entitled to an additional month's leave; men are entitled to an additional 5 working days off when their wives give birth.
Financial support when giving birth for ethnic minority women; women giving birth to 2 children before the age of 35, women in the locality with low fertility rate. Priority is given to buying or renting social housing according to the provisions of the law on housing for women who give birth to 2 children or men who have 2 children without a wife or whose wife has died.
The Government stipulates the content and minimum support level to stipulate measures to maintain replacement fertility.
Based on the socio-economic conditions of each period and the ability to balance the budget, local authorities stipulate: Subjects, contents and support levels must ensure that the support level is not lower than the support level prescribed by the Government; supplement measures to maintain replacement fertility; supplement subjects to be subject to measures to maintain replacement fertility.
