Vietnam aims to reduce the number of adolescents and young people experiencing unintended pregnancies by two-thirds by 2030, Director of the Health Ministry’s Population Department Mr. Le Thanh Dung cited Resolution 21 on population work in the current context as announcing.
Mr. Dung made this announcement during a rally commemorating World Contraception Day on September 26, highlighting concerns about the high adolescent birth rate, particularly in the northern midlands and mountainous regions, as well as the central highlands, where many ethnic minorities reside.
Data from the Ministry of Health indicates that over 53% of abortions are due to unintended pregnancies, with approximately 3,000 cases of adolescent abortions reported each year in public healthcare facilities. This figure may be significantly higher as many abortions are performed in private clinics.
A study conducted by doctors from the Central Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital and Hanoi Medical University, published in 2023, also revealed that the abortion rate among adolescents has doubled compared to the previous decade, increasing from 0.4% to 1%. Alarmingly, many of these young individuals are as young as 12 years old and have undergone abortions at advanced stages of pregnancy.
Currently, there are approximately 25 million women of childbearing age (15-49) in Vietnam.
(VnExpress [1])