Participants at the 9th Asia-Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights (Photo: apcrshr9vn.org) Quang Ninh (VNA) - The 9th Asia-Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights (APCRSHR) kicked off in the northern province of Quang Ninh on November 28.
With the theme of “Leave No One Behind! Justice in Sexual and Reproductive Health”, the function attracted nearly 1,000 delegates, including scientists, researchers, educators, youths and representatives of organisations and community groups from 40 countries in the region.
At the conference, Dr Rosalia Sciortino from the Institute for Population and Social Research at Mahidol University, stressed development gaps amid rapid growth across the Asia-Pacific have minimised poor and disadvantaged people’s chances to access high-quality healthcare services, particularly sexual and reproductive health.
She expected that the event will help speed up the review of policies and practices to bring justice to sexual and reproductive health, ensuring that no one was left behind.
Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Viet Tien said with the progress achieved in the past two decades, Vietnam is working to reduce and eventually remove uneven access to good health services, with particular attention paid to ethnic and remote areas.
The conference consists of five plenary sessions under five sub-themes, which spotlight social, cultural and religious barriers, sexual and reproductive health education, as well as justice and equity concerning the matter.
A total of 166 reports will be delivered at 35 parallel sessions, while more than 147 abstracts will be presented as posters. Delegates are scheduled to undertake field visits to reproductive and sexual health and rights projects in Quang Ninh.
The 9th APCRSHR, the first of its kind hosted by Vietnam, will last until November 30.-VNA
VNA
