Regular inspections should be carried out across the country on the implementation of legal documents concerning reproductive health care for young people, who account for nearly 40 percent of the total population.

It is also necessary to equip the adolescents with gender knowledge and social skills at school as well as enable them to use optimal reproductive health services.

Representatives from the National Assembly’s Committee for Culture, Education, Youth and Children made the suggestion at a conference in Hanoi on August 27.

They reported that around one third of the youngsters lack access to sexual consultancy and health care services due to their poor awareness of the issue and the shortage of medical facilities.

More seriously is the increasing number of sexual abuses among children, with over 1,000 cases reported each year.

Participants recommended building a national strategy on the realm and encouraging public-private societies to make advice and services available to the youths such as contraceptive and anti-HIV/AIDS methods.

According to the General Office for Population and Family Planning, teenage abortions now make up more than 20 percent of the total number of abortions in Vietnam .

A survey conducted by the Centre for Creative Initiatives in Health and Population (CCIHP) at two junior high schools in Hanoi early this year showed that 60 percent of nearly 250 interviewed students said their parents did not make any discussions of gender and reproductive health matters with them within the past year, while 14 percent said their parents have never even mentioned the issues.-VNA