A program providing free birth control services will continue to target populations in remote and underprivileged areas, especially ethnic minority groups and industrial park workers.The information was informed by head of Marie Stopes International's Technical Unit Dinh Thi Nhuan at a workshop on reproductive health care held on January 10 in the central city of Danang.Marie Stopes International country director Nguyen Thi Bich Hang said that under the program, called "Choice" and administered by Marie Stopes International Vietnam, women rec eive free intra-uterine devices (IUDs) and men receive free vasectomies.The goal of the program is to reduce the rate of abortions and maternal mortality in the country, she said.Vietnam now has about 25 million women of reproductive age and the number is forecast to continue increasing, she added.Around 870,000 people in 27 provinces and cities have benefited from the program over the past three years.Under the program, up to 4,500 medical workers have been trained in delivering IUDs and vasectomies. Statistics from the General Department for Population and Family Planning revealed that the program had funded about 40 percent of all such procedures nationwide during 2009-12.Implementation of the program is expected to contribute to achieving the goals in the 2011-20 national strategy on population and reproductive health in a context of rapid population growth, said the deputy head of the General Department for Population and Family Planning, Nguyen Van Tan.Long-term and permanent methods of contraception are vital to ensure the sustainability of the national strategy, said Tan. (vietnamplus.vn Jan 11).Vietnam PM Urges to Boost Poverty Reduction, Social Welfare This Year. Vietnam’s PM Nguyen Tan Dung has urged the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) to further drastically boost poverty reduction and ensure social welfare for local people this year. At an online meeting on labor, people who contributed to the country and social affairs in 2013 held in Hanoi on Jan 7, PM Dung highly appreciated efforts by the ministry, saying that “Despite economic difficulties in 2012, we did not cut any expenditure for social welfare.”“The social welfare achievements have helped to maintain social stability of the country,” Mr. Dung said.The PM agreed with the ministry’s missions and goals set for 2013, such as reducing the number of poor households by 2% and the number of poor districts nationwide by 4% and rehabbing 50,000 drug addicts.The ministry needs to stabilize the livelihood of victims of natural disasters, ensure children’s rights as well as guarantee the equality for women in socio-economic activities, he added.The PM also asked the ministry to reduce poverty through providing support to needy households, especially those in remote and ethnic minority areas.The government spent a total VND8.8 trillion ($419 million) on social security and poverty reduction in 2012, surging by 174% from a year earlier, according to the government’s General Statistics Office.The percentage of poor households nationwide last year was estimated at between 11.3%-11.5%, falling by 1.1%-1.3% on year. (Ha Noi Moi – New Hanoi Jan 8 p1, An Ninh Thu Do – Capital Security Jan 8 p1, Sai Gon Giai Phong –Saigon Liberation Jan 8)
