The oral contraceptive pill in Viet Nam: Situation, client perspectives and possibilities for promotion

Viet Nam has one of the highest rates of abortion in the world, according to the 1997 Demographic and Health Survey. Even though official statistics and survey fieldwork are likely to have underreported the number of abortions, the rate is still high at 340 per 1,000 pregnancies (Henshaw and Morrow, 1990; NCPFP, 2000a). This can be partly attributed to unmet need for contraceptives among married women and also to the fact that unmarried women do not have access to free modern contraceptives (Nguyen Minh Thang and others, 1999). To deal with this situation, the Vietnamese Government’s family planning programme is expanding the contraceptive mix so that temporary methods such as condoms and oral contraceptive pills are being given more emphasis, especially the pills, as they are so effective in preventing pregnancy (NCPFP, 2000b; Harlap, Kost and Forrest, 1991).