Vietnam is among the world’s top ten countries for abortion, especially under-age abortion, a representative of HCM City-based Tu Du Obstetrics Hospital said.

VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam is among the world’s top ten countries for abortion (20 percent), especially under-age abortion, a representative of HCM City-based Tu Du Obstetrics Hospital said at an international conference on obstetrics.

Rising juvenile abortion rate raises alarm

Doctor Pham Thanh Hai from the country’s biggest obstetrics hospital said that the number of women under 19 who have an abortion has been increasing year after year.

At Tu Du hospital, the figure rose from 388 in 2005 to 512 in 2008. At the HCM City Centre for Productive Healthcare, 2.4 percent of the total 100,283 women having abortion last year were under-age women.

Experts said that juveniles have sex early but they are not equipped with a good understanding about reproductive health, especially contraception.

Information about reproductive health is available on the media, especially on the Internet but families and schools are still confused about how to approach sex education.

PV