Nguyen Doan Tu at the workshop

The information was given by Director of Department of Population and Family Planning Nguyen Doan Tu at a workshop on active contraception in Hanoi on Monday in response to World Contraception Day 2019.

According to Tu, out of the annual abortions, up to 62% were unintended pregnancies with the highest rate for people aged between 13 and 19.

Experts said that the actual number of abortions would be much higher, including those conducted illegally at private facilities.

Earlier, a report Hanoi's Central Obstetrics Hospital said in a report showed that every Vietnamese woman of a reproductive age underwent an average 2.5 abortions.

More than 24.2 million Vietnamese women are of reproductive age currently and this has continued rising when the country’s population increases by one million per year.

On the occasion, a mobile app, Song Chu Dong (Proactive Life), was introduced. The app offers adequate information on reproductive health and contraceptive methods and enables users to connect with experts in the field. It is available on Android and IOs platforms for downloads starting from September 26.

The app is part of a family planning communications programme run by the Department of Population and Family Planning, Vietnam Women’s Union, and Bayer Vietnam company, in the past three years. The programme has so far organised several seminars and competitions to promote safe contraception. By the end of 2019, it is expected to provide consultations for more than 25 million women nationwide. Dtinews