(VOVworld) - Vietnam has, over the past decade, recorded remarkable progress in giving effect to the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) action program, resulting in better healthcare services for the country’s citizens. Vietnamese Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien was speaking at the 29^th special session of the UN General Assembly on population and development on Monday, to review the ICPD action program adopted in Cairo, Egypt, in 1994.

During the 1990-2010 period, the maternal fatality rate and mortality rate among children under five decreased sharply, Tien said, adding that Vietnam is also on the fast track of achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015. In the years to come, she said, the country will focus on sustainable development programs, especially those on policy-related issues, to deal with challenges caused by aging population, gender inequality, and negative impact of urbanization. Vietnam will also increase capacity for the reproductive healthcare system, by educating young people in safe sex, and pay due attention to health care for ethnic minority people and immigrants from rural to urban areas. On the same day, Minister Tien and other Vietnamese delegates held a working session with leaders of UNICEF and UNFPA to discuss issues relating to child nutrition and vaccination. UNICEF representatives pledged further aid to Vietnam in capacity building and vaccine production, while UNFPA committed to helping Vietnam finalize a population law and providing technical assistance in the fields of population and reproductive health.