Being able to plan how many children to have and when to have them is a recognized human right. Family planning is essential to slowing population growth, women’s empowerment and gender equality.

Every minute, another woman dies in pregnancy or childbirth. Every minute, the loss of a mother shatters a family and threatens the well-being of surviving children. For every woman who dies, 20 or more experience serious complications. These range from chronic infections to disabling injuries such as obstetric fistula. Maternal death and disability rates mirror the huge discrepancies that exist between the haves and the have-nots both within and between countries

Dissemination of gender equality information remains the most important tool to minimising the gender imbalance and soaring growth of the population, according to the director of the Population and Family Planning General Department Nguyen Ba Thuy.

At least 200 million women want to use safe and effective family planning methods, but are unable to do so because they lack access to information and services or the support of their husbands and communities. And more than 50 million of the 190 million women who become pregnant each year have abortions. Many of these are clandestine and performed under unsafe conditions.

Health authorities in 28 coastal cities and provinces will set up mobile teams by the end of next month to spread knowledge on prenatal and paediatric health care.

In a crisis or refugee situation, one in five women of childbearing age is likely to be pregnant. Conflicts and natural disasters put these women and their babies at risk because of the sudden loss of medical support, compounded in many cases by trauma, malnutrition or disease, and exposure to violence. UNFPA seeks to make motherhood as safe as possible during crisis situations by helping those who want to delay or avoid pregnancy and by providing care before, during and after delivery.

(CPV)- Vietnam has around 2 million newborns each year; 3,000 of them are born by HIV-infected mothers, according to statistics from the Vietnam Administration of AIDS Control (VAAC), under the Ministry of Health (MOH).

Deputy Health Minister Tran Chi Liem and UNICEF chief representative Jesper Morch have led a working team to southern coastal Ninh Thuan province to supervise the operation of UN-funded children and reproductive healthcare projects in the province.

The Ministry of Health and United Nations in Vietnam vowed to continue investment in women’s health and ensure continued progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals despite the recent global economic crisis, in an appeal at a press briefing today

In order to heighten knowledge and skills for the Management Board of Happy Family Clubs, the WU of Bac Ninh organized training for 140 Management Board members of Happy Family Clubs in the province