Vietnam's teen pregnancy remains high due to lack of contraception

More than a third of young Vietnamese still lack access to the contraception they need, as a result, the rates of unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions are still high amongst young girls, local daily Vietnam News daily quoted UNFPA report as saying on Tuesday. The information was shared from the State of World Population 2013 report, released in capital Hanoi on Monday by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in collaboration with the Youth and Adolescents Center. UNFPA's report, entitled "Motherhood in childhood: facing the challenge of adolescent pregnancy", places particular emphasis on the girls who are at double risk of maternal death and obstetric fistula when their bodies are not yet ready to bear a child. In Vietnam, the unmet need for contraceptives is still 35.4 percent amongst youths aged 15 to 19 and 34.6 percent of young people aged 20 to 24 years, quoting latest data from the Vietnamese Ministry of Health. Reports of reproductive health centers in Vietnam's 63 provinces and cities in 2012 showed that the rate of adolescents becoming pregnant made up 3.2 percent of the total pregnancy rate for women, an increase by 0.1 percent compared with 2011. Adolescent abortions made up about five percent of the total abortion rate during the past few years, according to the Vietnam National Hospital for Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Medical experts said that preventing adolescent pregnancy in the country met a lot of obstacles due to the shortage of awareness, knowledge, services and funds. Vietnam's Ministry of Education and Training had implemented a national plan on teaching reproductive health and HIV/AIDS prevention at universities, whereas the Ministry of Home Affairs had set up a curriculum on living skills, which will soon become a compulsory subject at universities. According to Arthur Erken, UNFPA Representative in Vietnam, working in partnership with young people is an essential component of any successful youth sex and reproductive health program. Investing in adolescents' and young people's health will lay a firm foundation for their transition to adulthood and will contribute to the continued socio-economic growth and sustainable development of Vietnam, said UNFPA official.