Grade 1 students of the Ly Thai To Primary School in Hanoi. (Illustrative photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) -🐟 Hanoi will crackdown and strictly fine those providing early gender indications of foetuses through ultrasound scans, said Nguyen Dinh Lan, deputy head of the city’s Population and Family Planning Department.
The city authorities have also tasked district-level agencies with regularly inspecting State-owned and private obstetrical health centres and clinics to ensure no illicit gender preference is practised.
The planned August-September crackdown is not the first effort by the city to deal with the gender imbalance in the capital.
In 2015, a private obstetrical clinic in Ha Dong district was fined 40 million VND (1,900 USD) and forced to suspend operations after informing parents of the gender of their foetuses.
However, Lan said investigations at health centres are difficult. The city only prosecuted two cases in 2015, while the real figure of violations must be higher. To solve the problem, traditional attitudes about the role of women in family and society must be changed, women’s autonomy must be encouraged as well as leadership roles for women in and outside the family.
Lan said the gender imbalance at birth in the capital city of Hanoi continues to increase, while the gender ratio at birth is consistently higher than the country’s average.
The current gender ratio at birth in the city is 114.4 boys to100 girls, against the country average of 112.2 boys to 100 girls.
Since 2009, the ratio in Hanoi has fluctuated between 114-118 boys to 100 girls, while the country ratio has changed from 106.2 boys to 100 girls- to 112.2 boys to 100 girls.
In Hanoi, the number of births has declined but the rate of third children is still high (accounting for 7.53 percent of total births).
The desire of more and more two-girl families for a son to maintain the continuity of the family line is the main cause for the sex imbalance in Hanoi, according to Lan.
The official said the unbalanced sex ratio at birth would negatively affect Vietnam’s population makeup in the future, resulting in an excess of men.-VNA
A campaign was launched in Hanoi on September 28 to call for more efforts from the Government and relevant agencies to stop the gender imbalance at birth, one of the forms of discrimination.
A cooperation programme was launched between the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) and the Ministry of Health (MoH) at an official ceremony in Hanoi on October 9 to promote gender equality and control sex imbalances at birth during the 2014-2020 period.
A conference was held in Hanoi on October 30 to seek experience in dealing with birth gender imbalance for the cities and provinces of Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Bac Giang, Hung Yen, Hai Duong, and Nam Dinh.
Vietnam’s population has remained stable and yet to surpass 92 million people, heard a conference held on January 14 reviewing last year’s outcomes related to population and family planning.
Vietnam now boasts a nationwide healthcare network with 1,665 hospitals, 384 of which are non-public, supported by local commune- and ward-level stations. At the end of 2024, hospital bed capacity reached 34 per 10,000 people, slightly above the global average.
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TytoCare, a leading Israeli telemedicine company based in Netanya, is willing to work with Vietnamese regulators, insurers, and healthcare providers to develop a sustainable digital health ecosystem.
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The centre not only serves residents living on the island, but also receives tens of thousands of visitors every year, according to Assoc Prof Dr Tang Chi Thuong, Director of the HCM CIty Department of Health.
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During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Ministry of Health swiftly launched a telemedicine programme, connecting more than 1,000 medical establishments nationwide. The model, which remains in operation, has benefited tens of thousands of patients, including foreign nationals.
After more than three weeks of intensive treatment, the patient's pneumonia improved, breathing stabilised, sedation was reduced, and the breathing tube was removed. He is now conscious, able to eat orally, and in recovery.
Grade 1 students of the Ly Thai To Primary School in Hanoi. (Illustrative photo: VNA)
