Vietnamese Ministry of Health will carry out stricter measures to implement the ban on gender selection of unborn babies, Vietnam News Agency reported in Hanoi Tuesday.

According to the ministry's figures, the male population has risen disproportionately in recent years, with 16 provinces reporting 115 to 128 males per 100 females, an alarming increase from 2005 level of 105 boys per 100 girls.

The ministry said it had asked health departments across the country to cooperate with the General Statistics Office to keep a close eye on the gender imbalance.

It has ordered health clinics and hospitals to enforce a ban on using Ultrasound to determine the sex of an unborn child. Gender based abortions are also banned.

Examinations of the implementation of the ban will have to be carried out more regularly, according to Pham Nang An, vice head of the Department of Population and Family Planning of the ministry.

If health staff is asked to carry out abortions based on gender, or they suspect that such is the case, they are now to refuse, and then inform their superiors, said the ministry.

Local health departments are also ordered to cooperate with departments of culture, information and sports and other relevant bodies to check and punish the dissemination of publications on gender selection.

Using ultrasound, blood or cell tests to determine the sex of an unborn child are banned. Violators will be fined up to US$410, according to Vietnamese regulation.

(Xinhua News Agency August 19, 2008)