VietNamNet Bridge – Doubts have been cast on the feasibility of targets set for a new programme in Viet Nam to control the imbalance of the sexes at birth.

This is because the ratio of boys to girls has steadily risen since the year 2000. The programme, being gradually introduced in 43 provinces, hopes to keep the birth rate lower than 113 boys to 100 girls by 2015 and lower than 115:100 by 2020.

However, actual statistics show there has been an increase in the ratio of 106 boys to 100 girls in the year 2000 to 111 boys to 100 in 2010. The 106:100 ratio was then considered the normal pattern for births in Viet Nam.

The programme aims to control the sex imbalance spiralling even further in favour of males.

Part of it even involves lectures being given to parishioners by Buddhist and Catholic clergy to prevent the projected figures for 2020 reaching a startling 120 or 125 boys to 100 girls as some have projected.

Under the new programme, communication work will be done to promote gender equality and improve women's status in society.

According to Duong Quoc Trong, director of the General Office for Population and Family Planning under the Ministry of Health, the targets were based on the most positive scenarios possible. "But it takes time and requires relentless efforts to change people's thinking," said Trong.

Khuat Thu Hong, director of the Institute for Social Development Studies, said that she was not really convinced about the feasibility of the targets, as the time from now to 2013 and 2015 was too short to change people's attitudes.

The imbalance of sex ratio at birth is a manifestation of Viet Nam's profound preference for sons, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Trong said that son preference resulted from the country's deep-rooted belief in male superiority and the higher demand for physical labour in certain areas. This led most families to prefer having male members.

Mandeep Janeja, officer-in-charge of UNFPA in Viet Nam, said that the exact consequences of an unbalanced sex ratio at birth were difficult to predict, but studies from other nations suggested that there could be an impact on the family structure and cultural norms.

However, she pointed out that it would be more difficult for males to find female partners. "This, in turn, may contribute to an earlier age at marriage for girls, and possible interruption of women's education," she said.

There may also be an increase in commercial sex work and trafficking, Janeja added.

Trong said the increasing sex imbalance directly resulted from people's easier access to advanced sex determination and selection technologies as well as abortion of female foetuses.

He said that the sex ratios at birth were high in provinces near big cities like Ha Noi, HCM City, Da Nang, where the locals had easy access to gender-selective services before birth.

In the northern provinces of Bac Giang and Hung Yen, the current child sex ratio even exceeded 120/100.

In the wake of this alarming situation, the Ministry of Health proposed stricter control over abortions, which has been supported by Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan.

According to the proposal, those who want an abortion will have to meet certain conditions to be allowed the service,

Hong of the Institute for Social Development Studies, however, said that advanced technologies, including ultrasound scans and safe abortion service, should not be blamed.

"Services such as ultrasounds scan to detect the health of pregnant women and foetuses – or safe abortion for those who are not well-equipped enough to have children – are necessary," she added.

Hong said that the way to solve the sex imbalance was not to ban ultrasound services or prohibit abortions, but to take measures to control the use of these services for the wrong purposes.

"Prohibiting these services only makes it more difficult to control," she added.

Trong also said that harsh punishments or prohibition of these services were not really the keys to solving the problem, adding that behaviour change communication would bring sustainable effects, as it would solve the root of the problem.

In 2006, the Government issued a decree that stipulated a maximum fine of VND15 million (US$714) to people who promoted or practised abortions for the purpose of sex selection, or who used traditional practices to determine sex.

However, 2010 research by Elizabeth Krijgh and Khuat Thu Hong pointed out that the decree appeared impossible to enforce as access to ultrasound technology was widely available and abortion services were still legal.

The research said there was also an article in Population Ordinance 2003 which prohibited sex selection, but there was no evidence of action being taken to implement this article nor of consequences for violations being spelled out for the general public and medical community.

The research also pointed out that there was no direct evidence of a changing sex ratio at birth trend based on the imposed law, although dozens of thousands of booklets were confiscated and several websites closed down from 2010.

In co-operation with UNFPA and the family planning office, the Viet Nam Fatherland Front has been developing a pilot model to engage religious dignitaries in solving the sex imbalances since 2009 in the northern provinces of Thai Binh and Hung Yen, where the problem is critical.

Following the model, education on the causes and consequences of imbalanced sex ratio at birth is now integrated in lectures given to Buddhist followers and Catholics by religious dignitaries.

The Fatherland Front's initial survey shows that most people in the two provinces are now aware of the consequences of gender imbalance and committed to following the model.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News