About 4 million Vietnamese males under the age of 50 or 12 per cent of
the population might have difficulty finding wives over the next 37 years if
the country fails to take steps to curb the increasing gender imbalance.
The prediction was announced by
Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Viet Tien at a national conference on gender
imbalance at birth, held in Ha Noi on Saturday.
Tien said one of target groups
for education was the elderly who should be advised not to put pressure on
their children to have sons.
The General Office for Population
Family Planning said the birth ratio of boys to girls in Viet Nam had increased
from 110/100 only six years ago to 112.3/100 at present.
The rate was forecast to climb to
125/100 by 2020 unless urgent measures were taken.
At the conference, experts and
officials analysed socio-cultural factors involved and agreed it was urgent
that the imbalance be addressed.
Planning Office director Duong
Quoc Trong said that in most areas of the country, the desire to have a son was
obvious and people tried several ways to achieve their goal.
"The highest rate of gender
imbalance at birth is seen in economically developed areas, in prosperous
families and in people with high education levels," Trong said.
Last year the rate was 114.2/100
in urban areas compared to 111/100 in rural areas. The rate of children of
illiterate women was 107/100 compared to educated women at 114/100.
Trong said in urban areas,
residents could easily access gender choice services. Before conceiving,
couples often chose ultrasound and a genes test to help them have sons.
Some couples even said their
daughters were adopted so they would have the right to continue bearing.
"In other countries gender
imbalance at birth is often high with the second or third child," Trong
said.
However this does not happen in
Viet Nam where the ratio of boys was high with the first birth (109.7/100 last
year) and became higher with the second and third births (119.7/100).
Trong said the consequences of
gender imbalance at birth could not be seen immediately but 20 years later boys
would face difficulties finding wives and many would have to emigrate to find a
partner.
Meanwhile, prostitution, rape and
women trafficking would increase, he said.
Christophe Guilmoto, an expert
with the United Nations Population Fund, said Viet Nam had developed a gender
imbalance at birth later than other countries but the rate had increased more
rapidly.
He said many countries had
campaigns to reduce gender imbalances at birth. South Korea, for instance, had
banned gender diagnoses before birth since 1987 and had been fining doctors who
diagnosed a foetus's sex since 1994.
India and China gave financial support
to families having daughters only.
Guilmoto said measures should
target prosperous families with high education levels, to reduce their desire
to have sons and their access to illegal gender diagnosis before birth.
It was necessary to stop pressure
being put on families having daughters only and to increase women's value in
families and in society, he said.
Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen
Thien Nhan said bringing the rate down would require pressure in the political
system and education.
He suggested the Health Ministry
increase the quantity and quality of its grassroots communicators and teach sex
education and gender affairs at schools.
News Desk
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