Both the number of newborn babies and the birth ratio between male and female continued to rise in the first 11 months in HCMC.
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| Gender imbalance will severely affect society in the future |
Despite the efforts of the officials from population and families planning divisions in localities, by December, HCMC has received 68,106 babies, a 7.1% increase compared to the same period last year.
It is forecast that in December, HCMC will continue to receive 4,000 more babies.
The sex ratio at birth between male and female in the city now stands at 106/100 and may escalate to 108/100 before the end of 2012. The prejudice in favour of male children continues to deeply affect Vietnamese families and it may get worse.
Gender imbalance poses a prominent threat to Vietnamese family structure because of the lack of women of marriageable age.
To Thi Kim Hoa, Head of Population and Family Planning Department of HCMC said, "2,577 babies were born in the first 11 months of 2012 are a third child, accounting for 3.78% of total newborn babies. However, the rate of new people implementing family planning measures and the rate of prenatal screening is much higher than expected."