The United Nations Population Fund ( UNFPA) will help Vietnam implement a 28-million-dollar plan on promoting reproductive healthcare in the next five years, local newspaper People reported Friday.

The 2006-2010 Country Program Action Plan signed by the UNFPA and Vietnam on Thursday which focuses on increasing gender equality, children's healthcare and maternal health, gives priorities to the disadvantaged, including people living with HIV/ AIDS, the poor, women and children, especially those in remote and mountainous areas.

Designed to help Vietnam implement national reproductive healthcare and population strategies, the plan aims to build the capacity of some ministries and seven selected provinces, including Ha Giang, Hoa Binh and Phu Tho in the northern region, Kon Tum in the Central Highlands region, Ninh Thuan in the central region and Ben Tre and Tien Giang in the southern region.

Vietnam, which now has a population of over 83.1 million, 50.8 percent of whom are women, has targeted to lower its birth rate by 0.04 percent in 2006 so that the country's population will stand at nearly 84.2 million in the year.

Source: Xinhua