The Ho Chi Minh City Population Sub-Department and Merck Healthcare Vietnam Company signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation on the morning of September 11 to strengthen collaboration in communications and advocacy, and improve access to information, knowledge and population and healthcare services in accordance with Vietnamese law on population affairs.
The initiative aims to improve population quality and address the city's low birth rate, contributing to the successful implementation of the Vietnam Population Strategy to 2030. It also seeks to bring population-related activities closer to local communities while leveraging public- and private-sector resources and expertise to address reproductive health and population quality issues.
Specifically, the two sides will focus on strengthening communications, raising awareness and promoting behavioral changes related to population and development. They will also diversify communications products and provide practical knowledge and skills on pre-marital healthcare, reproductive health and sexual health for adolescents and young people, gender equality, prenatal and newborn screening, childcare and parenting, and building happy families.
The activities will also create a forum for cadres, civil servants, public employees, youth union members, association members and young people to share communications initiatives and solutions, contributing to bringing the Party's guidelines, the State's policies and laws, and population-related knowledge closer to the public.
The two sides will also focus their cooperation on improving access to reproductive healthcare services, particularly for groups with specific needs and circumstances, such as workers, students and low-income freelancers.
The two sides are expected to work together on pre-marital healthcare, helping men and women preparing for marriage proactively access counseling and identify and prevent risk factors affecting reproductive health. They will also promote support for interventions and treatment for infertility and difficulty conceiving among people facing financial hardship, contributing to meeting demand for childbirth and raising the city's birth rate.
Head Pham Chanh Trung of the Population Sub-Department said Ho Chi Minh City is a major urban center with a large population, a dynamic economy and a high rate of socio-economic development, making population affairs increasingly important. The city faces new requirements in improving population quality, maintaining an appropriate birth rate, providing reproductive healthcare, preparing the health of future generations and ensuring that all residents have opportunities to access necessary information, knowledge and services.
“Against the backdrop of a low birth rate becoming one of the issues facing the city, communications and advocacy cannot stop at providing information, but must aim to change perceptions, build social consensus and gradually create a favorable environment in which every individual and every couple can proactively exercise their rights regarding childbirth and building a family, head Pham Chanh Trung said.
Ghislaine Dondellinger, General Director of Merck Healthcare Vietnam, said that through the partnership, Merck is committed to combining science, expertise and resources to bring more practical solutions closer to residents. The company also expects the partnership to lay the foundation for long-term cooperation, helping raise awareness, improve access to services and promote proactive reproductive healthcare.
The two sides aim to contribute to the shared goal of improving the population quality and quality of life of Ho Chi Minh City residents, while also contributing to long-term efforts toward sustainable population development in Vietnam.
In Vietnam, Merck Healthcare Vietnam, in collaboration with the Vienam Population Authority under the Ministry of Health and the Vietnam Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology (VAGO), introduced a toolkit at a November 2023 workshop addressing the issue of declining birth rates. In 2024, Merck continues its support by partnering with the Vienam Population Authority to organize an international policy consultation workshop aimed at identifying solutions to curb the trend of falling fertility rates.
