Ipas > Ipas Vietnam leads the way toward improving care for women with special needs

Ipas Vietnam leads the way toward improving care for women with special needs

July 25, 2005

Without specific training on how to recognize and address different needs, health-care providers may not be prepared to provide each woman with the appropriate care.

There is no single answer to every woman's reproductive health-care needs. This forms the foundation of the Comprehensive Abortion Care (CAC) Project, Ipas Vietnam 's partnership with the Ministry of Health and the nation's largest obstetrics and gynecology hospitals. But how can health-care providers, many of whom struggle to stretch their limited resources just to meet demand, tailor their abortion services to address the individual needs of every client?

Recently, Ipas and CAC Project partners helped provide answers to this question at a series of workshops on adapting abortion care and counseling to meet the needs of special populations. Offered in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City , the workshops brought together physicians and midwives from every level of the health-care system, from commune-level clinics through national hospitals.

“Though they may seek services at the same clinic on the same day, an adolescent schoolgirl and a married woman living with HIV likely have very different needs,” said Dr. Phan Bich Thuy, Ipas Vietnam's Training and Services Advisor. “Without specific training on how to recognize and address these different needs, health-care providers may not be prepared to provide each woman with the appropriate care.”

The workshops began by introducing the concept of a woman's rights to appropriate health care as outlined in human-rights conventions and international agreements on sexual and reproductive rights. Subsequent days of the workshops were devoted to the particular needs of three special populations—adolescents, survivors of sexual violence and women living with HIV.

To highlight the importance of creating youth-friendly services, adolescent co-trainers presented the student-written and produced film, An Injustice for Thi Mau. Important elements of youth-friendly services identified in discussion following the film included: privacy; a supportive, empathetic clinic environment; friendly provider-client relations; nonjudgmental counseling; safe abortion services; complete information; reasonable clinic hours and fees; screening for sexually transmitted infections (STIs); and contraceptive services.

“There is a very real need to provide youth-friendly reproductive-health services,” said Dr. Thuy. “If health-care providers in the public sector do not attract young women to their services, those young women will likely resort to private practitioners, who provide unregulated and often unsafe services.”

Care for victims of gender-based violence was the second major topic of the workshop. Although a 2001 study by the Vietnam Women's Union indicated that 60 percent of interviewed women experience emotional or physical abuse from their spouse, there is still a perception in Vietnam that violence is not a problem for most women. Health-care providers are not generally trained to recognize or address the signs of abuse, according to Phan Bich Thuy, and few support services and networks exist.

The workshops therefore covered information about screening for physical and mental injury, STIs and unwanted pregnancy; providing treatment for injuries and abortion services; providing information and contraceptive services; discussing with women ways to prevent violence; and referring women to social services and special care. Participants also shared stories about how they individually address the issue of violence in their communities and assist violence survivors.

The third special population highlighted in the workshops was women living with HIV. In addition to the health burden they suffer, women living with HIV in Vietnam are often subjected to discrimination in their communities, at work and when seeking health-care services.

“Commonly referred to as ‘Sida shrews,' women living with HIV are shunned wherever they go. People avoid associating with them, sharing food and drink with them, sitting next to them, working with them, purchasing goods from them and even talking to them,” said Dr. Thuy. “This has obvious ramifications for the level and quality of care they receive when seeking health-care services.”

Two HIV-positive women spoke candidly to workshop participants about their lives, their perception of stigma and discrimination, and their experiences in the health-care system.

“Many of the workshop participants cried when they heard these women's stories,” said Dr. Thuy. “By the end, they better understood the particular care and support such clients require from health-care providers.”

At the end of the workshop, participants created Action Plans for improving the care, counseling and referrals they provide to the special client groups discussed.

For more information, contact:
Kirsten Sherk
Senior Associate, Media Relations
e-mail: sherkk@ipas.org
phone: 919.960.5612
fax: 919.929.0258