VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) and the United Nations Population Funds (UNFPA) published materials for educating sexual and reproductive health and HIV prevention at vocational schools nationwide in Hanoi on November 3.

Students are learning about sexual and reproductive healthcare in Ba Dinh District, Hanoi -- Photo: VNA

The education materials, developed by the MoLISA’s General Department of Vocational Training, deliver a life skill-based approach for sexual and reproductive health and HIV prevention education.

It consists of lesson structure and teaching resources for educators and training materials for students at vocational schools including those attending less-than-3-month courses.

Vietnam is now experiencing a period known as the “golden population structure”, with the youth population making up 27.7 percent, the highest rate in its history. It poses a significant challenge to the country to improve the quality of population and human resources.

Sexual and reproductive health education is considered as a “good investment” on young people who account for a fair proportion of the nation’s working-age population and Vietnam has made considerable investment on the education over the past decades.

Young people today, particularly those living away from home, have not accessed sufficient sexual healthcare services and education, which may lead them to make unsafe sex decisions and increase their risks of having unwanted pregnancy, abortion and transmission of sexual transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV.

Statistics indicated that approximately 35 percent of youth population aged 15-29 are HIV carriers in Vietnam.    

VNA