Reducing the gender imbalance at birth requires abandoning the "male preference" mentality.

The imbalance in the sex ratio at birth in our country is increasingly serious, with some localities having a difference of up to 119.6 boys per 100 girls. Disseminating population policies to villages and hamlets so that people can abandon the mentality of preferring boys over girls and reducing the situation of intervening in gender selection at birth is becoming increasingly urgent.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the contest "I am a good population propagandist" organized by the Ministry of Health on December 4-5, Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen said that in order to effectively implement important solutions of strategic significance in population work, it is necessary to build a team of propagandists who are truly dedicated, creative, have a firm grasp of the Party and State's policies and guidelines, and at the same time have the ability to convey and spread population messages to each residential area, each family and each person.

According to the Ministry of Health, in recent years, Vietnam has achieved many important achievements, contributing to socio -economic development, poverty reduction and improving the quality of life.

However, according to Conclusion No. 149-KL/TW dated April 10, 2025 of the Politburo , population work still has many limitations: The total fertility rate tends to decrease below the replacement level; gender imbalance at birth remains high; solutions to exploit the "golden population" advantage and adapt to population aging are not synchronous and effective; average life expectancy increases but the number of healthy years is still low.

Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen delivered the opening speech of the contest.

In response to such practical requirements, propaganda and mobilization work continues to be identified as one of the four important solutions. This requires the grassroots media team to be increasingly professional, creative and proactive in order to bring the Party's policies on population and development work to the people.

The issue of gender imbalance at birth in Vietnam has been discovered through annual population change surveys. The government has implemented many policies and solutions to control the situation, but the situation has not been improved. From 2021 to 2024, the ratios were 109.5; 109.7 and 110.7 boys per 100 girls, respectively, continuously exceeding the natural level.

If the gender imbalance at birth continues at a high level, by 2034, Vietnam will have a surplus of 1.5 million men aged 15-49, and this number will increase to 1.8 million by 2059.

To address this issue, Vietnam aims to bring the sex ratio at birth to a natural balance, below 109 boys/100 girls by 2030. To achieve this, it is necessary to increase propaganda in many forms to change people's awareness and behavior, encouraging giving birth according to natural laws. At the same time, it is necessary to develop policies to support and enhance the role and position of women and girls in the family, community and society.

The contest "I am a good population propagandist" is an opportunity to recognize, honor and encourage groups, especially the population propagandist team that is directly carrying out communication work at the grassroots level.

A contest entry "I am a good population propagandist".

According to Director of the Department of Population Le Thanh Dung, Head of the Organizing Committee and Head of the Jury, the grassroots population propagandists - those who directly bring population policies to each village, each family, each community - are an important force contributing to the implementation of population and development goals in the past as well as in the next stages.

In 2025, the competition had the participation of nearly 200 propagandists from 11 provinces and cities, representing regions across the country. The teams overcame the difficulties of geographical distance and year-end workload to participate in the competition with a high sense of responsibility and determination.

The organizing committee will comprehensively evaluate the capacity of the propagandists through knowledge and practical situations. From there, select individuals and groups with outstanding achievements for the Ministry of Health to reward and train, aiming to build a solid population communication team, propagating population policies to each village and hamlet in the coming time.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/y-te/keo-giam-ty-le-mat-can-bang-gioi-tinh-khi-sinh-can-tu-bo-tam-ly-trong-nam-khinh-nu-i790106/