Speaking at the seminar, Minister and chairwoman of the National Committee for Population, Family and Children, Le Thi Thu affirmed that the low quality of population is the hindrance to national development, forcing the country to lag behind. She pointed out that the low development of the economy and agricultural practices among a majority of the population are the major causes behind the low quality of population.

“Improving the quality of population in the 2006-2010 period is one of the urgent tasks for Vietnam to realise the cause of national industrialisation and modernisation”, said Ms Thu.

Ms Thu said her Committee is seeking to create new breakthroughs in implementing the programme on improving the quality of population regarding physical, spiritual and intelligent aspects in accordance with national development levels.

In recent years, Vietnam’s Human Development Index (HDI) has increased markedly. Among HDI indicators, longevity index and education rate have greatly contributed to the increase.

Head of the Population Department under the National Committee for Population, Family and Children Pham Ba Nhat said the Vietnam will face a lot of challenges in improving the quality of population in the coming years such as large scales of population, limitations in physical strength, height of adolescents, risks of HIV/AIDS infection, environment sanitation and human resources. In addition, the rate of disabled people remains high, accounting for 6.3 percent of the total population.