The target was set in a resolution issued recently by the Government to realise its action plan and the Political Bureau’s conclusions on the population and family planning policy in the 2010-2015 period.

The resolution says Vietnam will strive to maintain a population of less than 100 million in 2020 and between 115-120 million by the middle of the 21^st century.

According to a population and housing census conducted last year, Vietnam was entering a period of a “golden population”, offering new chances for the country to develop in a stable manner. 

By April 1, 2009, Vietnam had 85.79 million people, 9.47 million more than the 1999 census. Of the total, 70.4 percent were living in rural areas.

In its resolution, the government says it will make the most of the country’s ‘golden population’ in drafting socio-economic development plans to use human resources effectively and adapt to changes in population structure, including the period of an aging population.

It will enhance communication and education about population and family planning, especially in areas that have a high birth rate.

The Ministry of Information and Communications will instruct media agencies and publishers not to approve publications that guide couples in choosing the sex of their baby.

The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Justice are working on a decree detailing fines for people who break the family law. The decree will be submitted to the government for consideration in December 2010.

The Ministry of Health will closely monitor invitro fertilisation and pre-natal centres to prevent them from using of modern equipment to identify and/or select the sex of embryos. Violations will be duly punished.

The resolution underscores the need to improve the quality of the population by gradually raising Vietnam’s human development index (HDI) to be on a par with that of the medium development group of industrial nations.

The Ministry of Health will work out pilot models and technical intervention solutions to reduce congenital defects, hereditary diseases and other factors that can affect the quality of the race. Successful models will be replicated across the country.

It will also provide better health care to reduce fatalities and diseases, while increasing the average life expectancy and time of good health.

The ministry is scheduled to submit its master plan on improving the quality of the Vietnamese population for the 2011-2020 period to the Prime Minister this August.