Committee for Culture and Society works with Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee

Reporting on the implementation of population policies and laws in Ho Chi Minh City in the period of 2018 - 2024, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health Nguyen Van Vinh Chau said that the city's population by the end of 2024 was 9,521,886 people; the crude birth rate in 2024 was 12.22‰, an increase compared to 2023 (12.15‰). The total birth rate in Ho Chi Minh City in 2024 was 1.39 children, much lower than the national rate of 1.91 children. Statistics from 2000 to present show that the total fertility rate of the city has continuously decreased (in 2000 it was 1.76 compared to 2023 it was 1.32), down to a very low level in 2016 at 1.24, the recovery trend towards an increase occurred very little in 2013 at 1.68. The annual sex ratio at birth is maintained at a reasonable level of 106 to 107 boys/100 girls.

Vice Chairman of the Committee for Culture and Social Affairs Nguyen Hoang Mai chaired the meeting.

The People's Council of Ho Chi Minh City has issued a Resolution on regulations on reward and support policies for collectives and individuals who perform well in population work in Ho Chi Minh City. This includes a policy of supporting 3 million VND for women who give birth to two children before the age of 35; Supporting pregnant women and newborns from poor and near-poor households, social protection beneficiaries, and those living in island communes to conduct prenatal and newborn screening with a total amount of 2 million VND/person.

The results of the 2024 Mid-Term Population and Housing Census show that the proportion of the population aged 15-64 accounts for 74.2%, the proportion of the population under 15 years old and 65 years old and over accounts for 18.2% and 7.5% respectively, the total dependency ratio is 34.7% and the aging index is 65.2%. These figures show that the city is currently in the "golden population structure" period. This is a period that brings many opportunities and challenges, helping to develop the economy, increase the contribution of labor in the development process, and achieve a high economic growth rate.

Currently, the number of elderly people in the city ranks second in the country, causing the city to face many challenges in the context of "population aging". By 2024, the proportion of elderly people in the city has increased to 11.87%. Within 7 years (2017-2024), the number of elderly people increased by 243,500 people, an average increase of nearly 35,000 people per year. This rapid increase shows that the aging rate in Ho Chi Minh City is exceeding previous forecasts, posing urgent requirements for policies and medical and social infrastructure to ensure the quality of life for the growing elderly population.

At the meeting, Ho Chi Minh City proposed that the Government should have a comprehensive policy based on a harmonious socio-economic development plan between urban and rural areas (new rural development policy), between local areas (inter-regional development policy) to create conditions for reasonable population distribution.

Policies on labor force training must ensure harmony between the unskilled labor force and the highly qualified labor force, paying more attention to training high-quality human resources in large cities to take advantage of abundant local human resources and avoid population overload in large cities. Develop the National Target Program on Population and Development for the period 2026 - 2035 to ensure synchronous, focused and key investment; ensure harmonious development between population, human resources and socio-economic development.

Ho Chi Minh City also proposed that the Central Government study and propose to include in the draft Population Law three major policy groups, namely maintaining replacement fertility; improving population quality and adapting to population aging.

Speaking at the meeting, members of the Supervisory Delegation said that Ho Chi Minh City has basically implemented its population policy well with a variety of propaganda activities. Therefore, although the city's birth rate is low, its population is still in the golden population structure. Members of the Supervisory Delegation also raised issues such as: the rate of modern contraceptive use is decreasing, uneven population distribution, care for the elderly, improving population health, training medical staff, etc.

The above issues have been reported by representatives of the City's departments and agencies, clarifying the causes and solutions for implementation in the coming time.

Vice Chairwoman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Tran Thi Dieu Thuy speaks at the meeting

Speaking at the meeting, Vice Chairwoman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Tran Thi Dieu Thuy said that population work is very important for Ho Chi Minh City, and is regularly paid attention to by the city's leaders. Whatever can be done, it must be done immediately, without hesitation. Recently, the City People's Council passed a resolution on birth promotion.

Receiving the opinions of the monitoring delegation, Vice Chairwoman of the City People's Committee Tran Thi Dieu Thuy said that the city will study and implement and hopes that after the monitoring activities, the delegation will have opinions with the Government in building laws and policies related to population.

Concluding the meeting, Vice Chairman of the Committee Nguyen Hoang Mai assessed that Ho Chi Minh City has basically implemented population policies well and shared the city's difficulties in implementing population work due to specific and different factors.

Regarding the low birth rate, the city can consider this birth rate more clearly in a period of several years because many migrant workers come to the city to live and work, after a few years of working in the city, they return to their hometown to get married and have children. This can also be one of the reasons why the statistical results are affected.

Vice Chairman of the Committee Nguyen Hoang Mai suggested that Ho Chi Minh City should effectively take advantage of the golden population opportunity for better development because the golden population period of the city is not long left. At the same time, pay more attention to the health care of the people, especially women, children and the elderly; allocate more budget for population work.

Jiang Wei

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/uy-ban-van-hoa-va-xa-hoi-lam-viec-voi-ubnd-tp-ho-chi-minh-post409014.html