HA NOI (VNS) – Adolescents need comprehensive sexuality education, which is currently provided by only 10 clubs in the whole country, said Duong Minh Ha, a young participant at a reproductive health forum yesterday in Ha Noi.
Nguyen Duc Vinh from the Ministry of Health’s Department of Mother-Child Health agreed, saying reproductive health education should be taught in schools.
“Until now, we have mostly focused on married couples,” he said. “However, unmarried young people suffer high risks of unexpected pregnancies and unsafe abortions.”
Vu Thanh Liem, director of the National Youth Centre under the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, said that reproductive healthcare for young people and adolescents would play an important role in the quality of the future population.
However, young people and adolescents lacked the basic knowledge and skills to avoid unexpected pregnancies, unsafe abortions and sexually transmitted diseases.
Liem also said there should be more centres providing reproductive health services for youth and the State should spend more on this area, in addition to creating mechanisms to let young people participate in creating relevant policies.
Young people and adolescents account for nearly 30 per cent of the population.
Organised by the Viet Nam Family Planning Association, the forum aimed to help young people voice their concerns about reproductive health and assist policy-makers in contributing ideas to the National Assembly and Government. – VNS
Đăng ký: VietNam News
