Survey to reveal state of sexual health care

Nguyen Thi Thanh Nha from the Women's Assosciation in Go Vap District, HCM City, gives advice to women about reproductive health.—VNA/VNS Photo Duong Ngoc

Before conducting health examinations to women in the 73 wards and communes of the districts, an investigation on the diagnosis and treatment capacity of gynecological diseases and equipment at the 73 health care centres of the districts will be carried out.

According to Dr Nguyen Quoc Chinh, deputy director of HCM City Reproductive Health Care Centre, a recent survey of 600 women in the districts shows that 36.3 per cent of women do not know how to prevent sexually transmitted diseases.

The doctor will work with the Viet Nam Women's Union's offices to conduct a survey to plan how to prevent gynecological diseases of patients who have check-ups at the grassroots health care centres.

Since 2006, HCM City's Department of Health have guided doctors from HCM City Reproductive Health Care Centre as well as Hung Vuong and Tu Du Maternity Hospitals to offer free reproductive health care to women .

They launched the programme in six outlying districts including Binh Chanh, Binh Tan, Hoc Mon, Cu Chi, Can Gio and Nha Be, where there are more than 1.3 million people with 231,000 married women.

During the past two years, the doctors have provided reproductive health care examinations to 124,621 patients and prescribed treatment to more than 40,000 patients.

Until December 2009, the number of women with gynecological diseases in the districts fell by 12 per cent compared with an earlier survey of about 44 percent.

Previously, the programme aimed to reduce by 50 per cent the number of women with disease in the districts over the past two years, Chinh said, speaking at a meeting of grassroots health care authorities responsible for the programme — VNS