By 2030, reduce the rate of unwanted pregnancies by more than 60%

Mr. Le Thanh Dung, Director of the Department of Population, Ministry of Health, said the above at the meeting to respond to the campaign. World Contraception Day 26/9adding that the number of women of childbearing age (15-49) nationwide is about 25 million.

“The worrying issue is the high birth rate among adolescents, especially in the Northern Midlands and Mountains and the Central Highlands, where ethnic minorities are concentrated,” said Mr. Dung, citing the figure of 4.9% of women aged 15-19 who have given birth, 0.9% who are pregnant with their first child and 0.1% who gave birth before the age of 15. This is the result of a survey on the Sustainable Development Goals for Vietnamese children and women 2020-2021, to date there has been no other similar study.

Teenage or unwanted pregnancy often comes with the consequences of abortion and future reproductive health effects. Figures from the Ministry of Health show that more than 53% of abortions are unintended pregnancies. Each year, there are about 3,000 teenage abortions in public health facilities. The actual number may be much higher because abortions are performed in private facilities.

A study by doctors at the Central Obstetrics Hospital and Hanoi Medical University published in 2023 also showed that the number of minors having abortions doubled compared to the previous decade, from 0.4 to 1%. Many were only 12 years old, having abortions when the fetus was already large.

Abortion at a later stage reflects a lack of knowledge about reproductive health among young people, late discovery of pregnancy, or psychological fear, leading to hesitation and hesitation in deciding whether to abort or keep the pregnancy, according to experts. Abortion at a later stage of pregnancy increases the risk of failure and complications of the procedure, affecting reproductive health and even life. In addition, abortion at this age also causes psychological instability.

Experts say that to reduce the rate of unwanted pregnancies among adolescents, early sex education, safe sex promotion, increased access to reproductive care and safe contraception are needed. There are currently many contraceptive methods such as condoms, birth control pills, etc.