Vietnam is reporting rising unbalanced sex ratio at birth which could be curbed by raising people's awareness on gender equality, according to an official.
Addressing a meeting held on October 8 in response to the International Day for the Girl Child (October 11) in the northern mountainous province of Lang Son, Deputy General Director of the General Office for Population - Family Planning Nguyen Thi Ngoc Lan said that 55 out of 63 localities report the rate of around 114.8 boys/100 girls, with Lang Son province recording a higher figure of 116.3 boys/100 girls in 2018.
Deputy General Director of the General Office for Population - Family Planning Nguyen Thi Ngoc Lan speaks at the meeting. Photo by Nhan Dan
"The figures showed an increase in sex imbalance at birth with more boys than girls being born, as the rate was just 107 boys/100 girls in 1999, 110.5 boys/100 girls in 2009, and 113.8 boys/100 girls in 2013," she noted, adding that the situation is reported in both rural and urban areas across the country.
"55 out of 63 provinces and cities in the country report high sex imbalance at birth with 108 boys/100 girls," she said.
The official stressed that the imbalanced sex ratio at birth will negatively affect Vietnam’s population structure in the future, resulting in a shortage of women.
"If there is no timely measure taken, Vietnam will lack 2.3 - 4.3 million women by 2050," she stressed.
The imbalance could have grave consequences for the country’s socio-economic development as well as the lives of women, men, families and communities, she added.
According to the official, raising public awareness of gender equality as well as improving the status of women and girls are considered as keys to reduce the unbalanced sex ratio at birth.
Lan expressed her belief that with drastic efforts from competent sectors and branches and the whole community, gender imbalance at birth will be improved, bringing a brighter future to Vietnamese women and girl children.
