The public health minister has vowed to promote childbirths among the younger generation and to increase the welfare available for new parents to incentivise more people to have children.
Minister Cholnan Srikaew presided over a mobile meeting of ministry executives yesterday at Hua Lamphong station in Bangkok, before they headed to Bang Pa-in station in Ayutthaya province.
The event was part of the public health campaign dubbed "Give Birth, Great World", which aims to increase Thailand's birth rate.
"The government is trying to provide equal access to reproductive care, making it a basic right for everyone in the country. The plan is to prevent a sharp drop in the fertility rate. We will promote births among the younger generation, showing them the value of family life and offering them reproductive care," Dr Cholnan said.
He said the government will invest in child-related welfare accessible by people of all socioeconomic backgrounds to beat the dropping fertility rate and the shortage of labour.
"The childbirth promotion plans cannot focus only on health aspects but also have to involve multidimensional factors. The Public Health Ministry is willing to work with state agencies to achieve the goal," he said.
The minister pointed out that many people nowadays prefer to enjoy a child-free lifestyle, partly because they view kids as a financial burden. Dr Cholnan said the ministry has to change people's attitude against having children and remind the public that the country is at risk of failing economically and demographically if the population shrinks to 33 million as some forecast in the next 60 years.