Vietnam: Up to 42,000 'teen mothers' give birth each year

In Vietnam, in 2015 there were more than 5,500 minors/280,000 abortions; more than 42,000 children giving birth, accounting for more than 3.5% of total births.

Information from the General Department of Population and Family Planning (Ministry of Health) said: In 2015, the highest number of girls married before the age of 18 was in the Asia-Pacific region with 59 million girls. East Asia and South Asia, West Africa and Central Africa with 8 million girls/region; Arab countries 3 million girls and Eastern Europe and Central Asia 1 million girls.

Every day, 20,000 girls aged 15-17 give birth in developing countries; an estimated 3.2 million unsafe abortions occur among girls aged 15-19; the proportion of girls who report having been sexually assaulted before the age of 15 is 10%. Suicide is the leading cause of death among girls aged 15-19, followed by pregnancy complications.

These figures have sounded an alarm bell for countries around the world about the situation of pregnancy and early marriage of teenage girls. Therefore, the United Nations has chosen the theme for this year's World Population Day (July 11) as "Investing in teenage girls", directing the whole society to focus on a vulnerable population group, which is teenage girls.

VTN's knowledge of reproductive health care is not adequate (Illustration photo)

Warning about teenage pregnancy

In our country, according to the Department of Maternal and Child Health, the pregnancy rate among adolescents has decreased slightly in recent years, but is still high and very worrying. In 2015, it was 2.66%, down from 3.39% in 2012.

In 2010, the country had 470,000 abortions, of which more than 9,000 were minors. In 2015, there were more than 5,500 minors out of nearly 280,000 abortions. More than 42,000 minors were born in 2015, accounting for more than 3.5% of the total births in the year. These are only the figures collected from the public health system. However, the actual figure would be much higher if private health facilities were included.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Tan, Deputy Director General of the General Department of Population, there are still many barriers in taking care of reproductive health of adolescents. That is, knowledge about reproductive health care of adolescents is not complete, and many adolescents still do not have the understanding about taking care of their reproductive health.

In the context of increasingly widespread exchange and integration, in which cultural exchange is increasingly open, VTN have a more "open" concept on the issue of premarital sex. Meanwhile, VTN's access to reproductive health care services is more difficult than other groups.

This difficulty is partly due to the prejudice of society in general, and the prejudice of VTN parents in particular, in giving their children access to reproductive health care services (the misconception that giving early access to these services will cause early damage...).

Mr. Nguyen Van Tan emphasized: "The above reasons create barriers for adolescents in accessing knowledge and reproductive health care services as well as preventing unwanted pregnancies and HIV/AIDS."

Why invest in Vietnamese girls?

Regarding the reason for choosing the theme “Investing in adolescent girls” for this year’s World Population Day, Mr. Nguyen Van Tan shared that girls are vulnerable to reproductive health (RH) abuse and are easily left out of official programs, including general RH care programs. They are also among the most disadvantaged groups in society, especially in countries that still place heavy emphasis on gender stereotypes and are influenced by Confucian ideology.

Parade on World Population Day 2016

Investing in girls is investing in a more progressive society, a society that values ​​equality between men and women, between boys and girls. We cannot build a progressive, fair, democratic and civilized society if women in general and girls in particular do not enjoy all their rights to care.

In addition, today’s girls will be the mothers of the future. Mothers who are well cared for physically, educated, equipped with knowledge, have a stable job and an independent source of income will have better conditions to take care of their children when they grow up. Therefore, investing in girls is investing in the future generation.

“I think that investing in adolescent girls is one of the tasks that governments and organizations need to participate in to improve the status of women, empower women in general and take better care of girls so that no girl has to stand on the sidelines of the agenda of striving for social progress,” Mr. Nguyen Van Tan emphasized.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Tan, issues such as: communication work, sex education, family life education in general education programs; increasing the provision of contraceptives for adolescents; building a series of facilities providing reproductive health care/family planning services that are friendly to adolescents... will be included in the draft Population Law to be submitted to the National Assembly in the near future.

Ms. Astrid Bant, Chief Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Vietnam also emphasized: When investing in adolescent girls, everyone benefits: family, community and most importantly, the girls themselves.

At the global level, UNFPA supports countries in their efforts to empower adolescent girls through programmes that protect their human rights and increase access to information and services, including sexual and reproductive health care. UNFPA also advocates for an end to harmful practices such as child marriage and female genital mutilation.

In Viet Nam, UNFPA has developed a range of programmes to support all adolescent girls and women to have healthy and safe pregnancies. UNFPA is working with the Ministry of Health to develop a new national cervical cancer plan that will ensure girls are vaccinated and women diagnosed with pre-cancerous lesions are screened and treated. Women with invasive cervical cancer will also be treated./.

According to VOV