The Health Ministry has called on the media to help in spreading the message of the World Population Day this year which aims to reduce adolescent pregnancy, together with the national policy on population and family planning.

At a press conference in Hanoi on July 10 in response to the Day, Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Viet Tien said underage pregnancy will affect the future generations.

He admitted that there are many worrying problems regarding adolescent and young people’s reproductive health in Vietnam , such as unprotected sex, unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion.

According to statistics of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), over one third of Vietnamese adolescents do not have access to contraceptives, and underage abortions account for an estimated 20 percent of the total cases. The rate of teenaged mothers was 46 per 1,000 girls in 2011, and the figure tended to be higher among groups with lower education level, lower living standards, ethnic minority groups, and communities in northern mid-land and mountainous areas.

Arthur Erken, UNFPA Representative in Vietnam said adolescent pregnancy is a world problem. Often it is a consequence of poverty, discrimination, rights violations including child marriage, sexual coercion and inadequate education.

On this occasion, the fund called for a comprehensive education, health and development for girls in efforts to create a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every child-birth is safe, and every young person’s potential is tapped.-VNA