Family planning participation stressed

HANOI, Vietnam, July 14 (UPI) -- Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan says he wants the Vietnamese people to participate more actively in family planning.

Vietnam is the world's 13th most populous nation, and its population is expected to climb to 88 million in the next two years. Nhan said in Hanoi more family planning campaigns are needed to improve people's lives and the country's living standards, the Vietnam News reported.

He said more young people need to take part in such programs.

The United Nations Population Fund chose family planning as the theme of this year's World Population Day. An agency official said family planning in Vietnam faces the challenges of higher maternal mortality rates, providing enough contraceptives to young people, and finding ways to raise more funds.

The U.N. agency says while Vietnam's health and family planning focuses mainly on married people, up to one-third of the people ages 10 to 25 -- who account for 29.6 per cent of the population -- engage in pre-marital sex. Vietnam is reported to have one of the highest abortion rates in the world among young and unmarried couples.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has ordered a new census in April 2009 to update population figures and to evaluate the country's economic development in the current decade, the report said.