According to Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Ba Thuy, the average number of births among bearing age women has fallen to the replacement rate thanks to achievements in population management. This has eased the pressure of population growth on socio-economic development, giving women better access to health, education and employment services.
As 13th most populous country in the world, with a total population of 86.5 million, Vietnam faces huge challenges in population management. Despite a reduction in the birth rate, problems remain such as a high population density of 257 people/km2, six times higher than the world’s average density. The number of malnourished children and the number of people infected with sexually transmitted diseases like HIV/AIDS remain high while the human development index (HDI) is low (0.733 points, ranking 105 out of 177 countries). In addition, the sex ratio is higher than the norm (112 boys/100 girls), reflecting a heavy preference for male children to maintain the continuity of a family line.
Over the past few years, Vietnam has made significant achievements in population and reproductive health management through family planning, pre- and post- natal care, and HIV/AIDS prevention programmes.
Modern contraceptive methods are becoming increasingly popular following the adoption of the Law on Gender Equality and the Family Violence Law.
In order to reach Vietnam’s millennium development goals (MDGs), it will be essential to enhance the role of women and ensure that all people can access good reproductive health services by 2015, important factors in protecting women and children’s health according to Thuy.
The global economic crisis, however, poses a great challenge to sustaining Vietnam’s development. Recently, there has been an increase in maternal mortality rates in remote and mountainous areas.
Mr Bruce Campbell noted at the briefing that to reach MDGs in terms of maternal health, Vietnam should spare no effort to improve the quality of maternal care services for ethnic minority people.