Measures against newborn gender imbalance

The remark was made by Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan at an international seminar on gender imbalance held in Hanoi on October 5 by the Ministry of Health and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

In his speech, Mr Nhan said dealing with the gender imbalance among newborns is a key task for the healthcare sector, as it is of prime significance to the country’s sustainable development.

The Deputy PM underlined the need to intensify communication activities to help change the public perception of valuing men above women which still exists among some people today.

Sex ratio imbalance, due to the psychology of preferring male children along with easier access to advanced gender selection technologies, began developing in the 1980s. After 30 years, Vietnam and some other Asian nations are now aware of the serious impact of this issue.

In most countries in the world, the sex ratio among newborns is around 104-106 boys for every 100 girls. However, the ratio is rapidly increasing in some Asian nations, including Vietnam.

A significant gender imbalance among newborns in Vietnam occurred in 45 of 63 provinces and cities.

The Red River Delta region has the highest average ratio of gender imbalance with 115 boys for every 100 girls. The alarming rates are seen in Hung Yen (130 boys/100 girls), Hai Duong (120 boys/100 girls), Hai Phong (115 boys/100 girls) and Bac Ninh (119 boys/100 girls).

If no drastic measures to balance sex ratios are taken there could be between 2.3 and 4.3 million more Vietnamese men than women in the next 15-20 years.

During the seminar, delegates from India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Armenia, Albania and Azerbaijan shared experiences and put forward initiatives and important lessons for building policies to control the sex ratio at birth.