VietNamNet Bridge – With the difference in sex ratio at birth to 117 boys for every 100 girls, the central province of Quang Ngai is one of the 10 provinces and cities with the highest gender imbalance in Vietnam.

The Bureau of Population and Family Planning of Quang Ngai Province hangs propaganda banners "Don’t use sex selection, to ensure balanced sex ratio at birth and the sustainable development of our race" everywhere.

It is forecasted that in the next 15 years, 50,000 men in this province will face the risk of to be left on the shelf.

This year, at the Department of Obstetrics of Quang Ngai General Hospital there were nearly 12,000 births, an increase of nearly 4,000 over 2011, in which boys accounted for over 53 percent.

Many couples thought that having a son in the year of the Dragon is better than a daughter so they tried to “seek” a son this year. To have a son, many women did not hesitate to use medical technics.

To prevent and reduce the gender imbalance at birth, Quang Ngai has carried out a wide range of solutions in order to decrease the sex ratio at birth in Quang Ngai to 113 boys per every 100 girls by 2015.

Mr. Nguyen Thai Son, Chief Inspector of the Quang Ngai Department of Health, said that in the coming time, the health sector would strengthen inspection of ultrasonic testing facilities, forcing them to commit not to disclose baby gender for pregnant women.

Quang Ngai has also developed the intervention model to reduce gender imbalance at birth in 184 communes and towns of 14 districts.

Mr. Dang Van Ngu, Deputy chief of Quang Ngai Population and Planning Family Bureau said gender imbalance at birth makes the risk of breaking the structure of the population and gender imbalance in the local community, creating scarcity of women in the near future.

Compiled by Mai Lan