 |
 |
|
|
Minh Lien is 34 years old and married with a 7-year-old daughter. Though she works as a maid at a Hanoi hotel and her husband as an industrial-machine designer, they bring home only US$227 each month. The couple agrees they can’t afford more children on that income. So Minh has had four abortions; the first happened while she was breast-feeding her daughter and another when she forgot her birth control pills. But after repeated abortions, her doctor said her “womb was becoming thinner and thinner, and if it was punctured, I would die,” said Minh. |
||
 |
 |
Today, Vietnam has the highest abortion rate in Asia, with an estimated one million or more pregnancies terminated each year.
In the Southeast Asian country, abortion has been available upon request since 1960. Vietnamese law permits abortion up to 22 weeks of pregnancy for a broad range of health and social grounds, and abortion services are widely available through the government health system.
Though there are few legal barriers for women seeking abortion care, comprehensive reproductive health care falls short of demand. Effective contraceptive use is threatened by both periodic shortages of condom and other methods, and inadequate counseling on how to use contraceptive methods correctly. With high rates of contraceptive failure and a government policy encouraging families to have no more than two children, multiple abortions are a common occurrence among many Vietnamese women.
But access to abortion does not guarantee high-quality services. Among the national network of communal health centers, equipment and training are often in short supply; some government health centers that serve women in hard-to-reach areas lack the instruments and skilled staff to offer safe abortion services. As an alternative, some women go to private practitioners; though these facilities may appear to be reputable, safe abortion providers, they are poorly monitored and often operate in substandard conditions that expose women to greater risk of injuries.
Based in Hanoi, Ipas Vietnam aims to expand the comprehensive abortion care (CAC) model — which includes thorough explanations of abortion procedures, after care and contraceptive counseling — throughout all levels of the health system. Ipas Vietnam works toward this goal by training providers from districts and communes nationwide. It also builds networks of CAC-providing facilities and partners that support an array of reproductive health services.
Through a long-term CAC project with the Ministry of Health (MOH) and two major hospitals, Ipas has effectively increased the availability of manual vacuum aspiration (MVA), the World Health Organization-preferred method of safe abortion; conducted a reproductive health training course for counselors and continual learning opportunities for providers; and succeeded in establishing private counseling rooms and increasing postabortion contraceptive counseling and use of pain medication in selected CAC facilities.
Furthermore, Ipas collaborated with the World Health Organization and the Vietnamese government to prepare the country’s leading obstetrician-gynecologists to offer medication abortion, thus expanding women’s options for safe pregnancy termination.
In keeping with its comprehensive approach, Ipas Vietnam supplements its technical assistance and training efforts with community awareness-raising among women. In northern Vietnam, Ipas combined forces with the Vietnam Women’s Union to create Smart Women Clubs. Trained facilitators gather women of child-bearing age for regular question-and-answer sessions about safe abortion and other pregnancy-related issues, child nutrition and general health care. In Hai Phong province, more than 20 Smart Women Clubs offer a blend of social interaction and information that will help Vietnamese women and men make informed choices about their reproductive futures.
- Continuing to assist the MOH to scale up the safe abortion care services in more provinces through training and monitoring/coaching in both the public and private sectors;
- Promoting high-quality, comprehensive-abortion-care services that are also youth-friendly;
- Reducing repeat abortions by increasing contraceptive use among women who have used public-sector abortion services;
- Work with the MOH and local authorities to ensure sustainable funding for CAC training and instrument supply for safe abortion services;
- Collaborate with the Vietnam Women’s Union and local health networks to promote women’s awareness of reproductive health and rights.
- Cohen, Margot. June 29, 2000. Trauma ward: Although Vietnam’s birth-control campaign is a big success, limited access to contraceptives has resulted in one of the world’s highest abortion rates. Far Eastern Economic Review.
- Vietnam growing healthy: A review of Vietnam’s health sector. Hanoi, World Bank.
919.967.7052 (voice) • 800.334.8446 (toll-free in US) • 919.929.0258 (fax) • contact us • privacy policy • photo disclaimer
©1998-2008 Ipas. All rights reserved.