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Jul 10, 2019 / 15:06

Hanoi strives to balance sex ratio at birth

Hanoi will continue promoting solutions to gradually improve its population quality, adapt to aging population and ensure reasonable population distribution, with a view to contributing to the capital’s sustainable development.

Hanoi will keep strengthening solutions to bring the sex ratio at birth to a natural balance, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Health Hoang Duc Hanh said at a meeting on July 9 to celebrate the World Population Day (July 11).
 
Meeting in response to the World Population Day. Photo: Thien Tam
An activity in response to the World Population Day. Photo: Thien Tam
Hanh said that Hanoi has met the city’s planned targets for 2019 which are the basis for accomplishing the five-year plan targets (from 2016 to 2020). Specifically, in the first six months of this year, Hanoi city’s sex ratio at birth is 112.8 boys/100 girls. It is expected that at the end of the year, the ratio will be kept at no more than 113 boys/100 girls. Prenatal screening rate reached 78.08%, newborn screening rate reached 85.12%, the number of people applying contraception was 367,316 (101.9%).

In particular, in order to improve the population’s quality, at present in Hanoi, many models are in place and replicated across the city such as adolescent and youth reproductive health care models, pre-marriage counseling and health examination model.

However, the city’s population work is still facing with many challenges due to the young population structure, thus, the number of women entering the reproductive age is high increasing the birth rate in the city.

The annual population growth rate is high, migration, uneven education level and the mindset of favoring male child are the causes of high gender imbalance at birth.

Hanh stressed that Hanoi will continue promoting solutions to gradually improve its population quality, adapt to aging population and ensure reasonable population distribution, with a view to contributing to the capital’s sustainable development.