The families will be praised and their children will get free milk under the school milk programme.

It aims to encourage couples not to have a third child and maintain the sustainability of the replacement fertility rate, according to a newly-issued decree of the health ministry.

In areas with a high birth rate, villages which do not have families giving birth to a third child for three to five years in a row will receive awards.

Awards will also be presented to mountainous, border, island, ethnic minority and extremely disadvantaged communes which do not have women giving birth to a third child in one year.

Women of reproductive age who have two children will get gifts if they voluntarily take long-term contraceptive measures.

In low birth rate areas, the Prime Minister decided to reward villages where 60 per cent of couples of reproductive age have two children. The percentage must be maintained for three to five consecutive years.

Women who give birth to two children before the age of 35 will receive cash or gifts.

Villages which can control the gender balance at birth are also encouraged, according to the decree.

The Ministry of Health asked local people's committees to focus on prenatal screening and newborn screening for pregnant women and infants of poor, near-poor households, and beneficiaries of social protection living in dioxin-contaminated areas, mountainous areas, borders, islands, ethnic minority areas, difficult and extremely difficult areas.

Communes with 100 per cent of elderly people with health insurance cards and regular medical check-up records will be proposed to be rewarded by the district-level People's Committee.