National program to help female students

National health authorities launched a program on June 26 to enhance girls' welfare and, in the long term, balance the country's sex ratio.

The program, called Achieve Girls' Dreams, recruited about 160 volunteers to help girls from financially challenged families in two counties in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces. The girls participate in activities like reading-group discussions, sharing puberty healthcare knowledge and training for parents and teachers.

The program will also set up a scholarship to help female students in the two counties.

Helping girls achieve their goals in life is an important measure to balance the sex ratio at birth, said Wang Pei'an, deputy director of the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

Wang said the sex ratio at birth in China was 117.6 in 2013, meaning that 117.6 boys were born for every 100 girls. The causes for such a high ratio are a preference for boys, and parents' gender determination and selection for nonmedical reasons.

The high ratio deprives girls of their right to live, damages women's physical and mental health, and makes it difficult for men to find a wife, he said.