What is the gender gap at birth in Hanoi?

The Hanoi Department of Health has just issued Plan No. 963/KH-SYT on implementing activities to control gender imbalance at birth in Hanoi in 2023, and at the same time requested units to effectively implement activities to reduce gender imbalance at birth in the city according to Plan No. 208/KH-UBND for the period 2016 - 2025.

Accordingly, the goal is to gradually control the rate of increase in the sex ratio at birth, gradually bringing the city's sex ratio at birth back to the natural law, contributing to stabilizing a reasonable population structure, improving the quality of the capital's population, and aiming to bring the city's sex ratio at birth to a natural balance by 2025.

Chênh lệch giới tính khi sinh tại TP Hà Nội ở mức nào? - Ảnh 1.

Hanoi City implements many measures to control the increasing rate of sex ratio at birth.

The Hanoi Department of Health also aims to control the city's sex ratio at birth in 2023 to not exceed 112 boys/100 girls. Focus on reducing the sex ratio at birth in districts/towns/cities with a sex ratio at birth in 2022 higher than 112 boys/100 girls.

In the coming time, the capital's health sector will continue to promote propaganda, education , and dissemination of laws and policies on population and control of gender imbalance at birth; Enhance the effectiveness of law enforcement on control of gender imbalance at birth; Strengthen inspection and supervision of medical facilities providing ultrasound and abortion services, establishments producing and trading books, newspapers, and cultural products that violate the provisions of law prohibiting gender selection of fetuses; Develop policies to encourage and support the promotion of the role and position of girls...

According to the Hanoi Department of Population and Family Planning, the gender imbalance at birth in Hanoi remains high at 112.7 boys/100 girls, including 5 districts with a very high ratio, over 120 boys/100 girls such as: Ba Dinh, Ha Dong, Quoc Oai, Thanh Oai, Thuong Tin.

The General Department of Population and Family Planning (Ministry of Health) said that the sex ratio at birth reflects the gender balance between the number of boys and girls at birth. This ratio at the normal biological level is 104-107 boys/100 girls.

The 2020 Population Census conducted by the General Statistics Office showed that the sex ratio at birth was 112.1 boys/100 girls, compared to 111.5 in 2019. In 2022, Vietnam's sex ratio at birth will be about 113.7 boys/100 girls, which is considered "serious" by the General Department of Population's leaders. Notably, in some localities, the sex ratio at birth is higher than the national average, such as Son La with 117 boys/100 girls, and Nghe An with 116.6.

Experts say that the gender imbalance will negatively affect the population structure in the future, leading to a surplus of men. The General Statistics Office predicts that Vietnam will have a surplus of 1.5 million men aged 15 to 49 by 2034, with a shortage of 45,900 girls in 2019 alone. In the long term, the serious consequences include a shortage of women, increasing pressure on girls to marry early, dropping out of school to start a family, and possibly increasing the demand for prostitution, leading to increased trafficking of women.

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