Yesterday afternoon, the Ministry of Health held a meeting on drafting a decree detailing some provisions and organizational measures for guiding the implementation of the Population Law.
At the meeting, Le Thanh Dung, Director of the Vietnam Population Authority, stated that the current birth rate nationwide is falling below the replacement level, from 2.11 children per woman in 2021 to 1.91 children per woman in 2024 and 1.93 children per woman in 2025, making it difficult to achieve the goal of maintaining the replacement level nationwide by 2030.
It is predicted that if the birth rate continues to fall, Vietnam will end its period of demographic dividend by 2036; and the working-age population will begin to decline by 2044.
Given the alarming demographic outlook, the Ministry of Health has proposed a financial incentive aimed at sustaining the replacement fertility rate. Under a draft decree outlining provisions and implementation measures for the Population Law, the ministry suggests a subsidy of VND2 million for each childbirth.
Eligible beneficiaries include women from very small ethnic minority groups, women in provinces and cities with fertility rates below the replacement level and women who have two children before the age of 35.
This subsidy will be guaranteed by the local budget. Provincial governments can independently decide on a higher subsidy level depending on their budgetary capacity.
The draft also proposes financial support for early detection of congenital conditions through screening services, allocating VND900,000 for prenatal screening and VND600,000 for newborn screening, for a combined total of VND1.5 million per case. Prenatal screening would target common conditions and syndromes, including Down syndrome and thalassemia.
In the draft, the Ministry of Health also proposed interventions to minimize gender imbalance at birth; develop and refine policies to encourage and support education, employment, and enhance the role of women and girls; and conduct specialized inspections to ensure strict enforcement of the law prohibiting sex selection of fetuses.
Deputy Health Minister Do Xuan Tuyen chaired the meeting.
