At the neonatal centre of Children’s Hospital No. 1 in Ho Chi Minh City. (Photo: VNA)
During its ongoing 46th session, the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on June 3 mulled over and voted to approve an ordinance amending Article 10 of Population Ordinance No. 06/2003/PL-UBTVQH11, which was previously revised and supplemented under Ordinance No. 08/2008/PL-UBTVQH12.
Earlier, presenting the Government’s proposal, Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan explained that the draft ordinance amends Clause 1, Article 1 of the 2008 ordinance revising Article 10 of the 2003 Population Ordinance. The previous provision “decide on the timing and spacing of births” is expected to be replaced with “decide on the timing, number of children and the spacing between births in accordance with the individual’s or couple’s age, health status, educational and work commitments, income and child-rearing capacity, on the basis of equality.” In addition, Clause 2, which stipulates “one or two children, except in special cases as prescribed by the Government,” is set to be removed.
The revision aims to address disparities in fertility rates across different regions and demographic groups, and to avoid a decline in fertility below replacement level – a factor that could negatively affect sustainable economic, social, security, and defence development in the future.
According to the Government’s proposal, amending the legal provision on the number of children is one of the measures to maintain replacement-level fertility and prevent a continued decline in fertility rates in the years to come.
The draft ordinance was deemed consistent with the Party’s policies and guidelines by the NA’s Committee on Culture and Social Affairs. Chairman Nguyen Dac Vinh stated that his committee agreed with the scope of amendment, the target audience, and structure. Amending Article 10 of the Population Ordinance aims to institutionalise the directives of the Politburo and to meet practical requirements, so the Government was requested to submit the draft Ordinance to the NA Standing Committee for prompt consideration and adoption./.
