Sex education cafe opens in Hanoi
HANOI - Faced with an increasing HIV-infection rate and an abortion
rate thought "to be
among the highest in the world," health officials in Hanoi,
Vietnam, have opened the city's first sex education cafe,the South China Morning Post reports.
According to the ministry of health, one-fifth of the
1.5 million pregnancies
terminated each year in Vietnam are among single women under
age 20, and 20 to
29 year olds are contracting HIV faster than any other age
group.
One HIV/AIDS counselor at the new "Window of Love" cafe
said HIV
infections are expected to reach 160,000 by the end of 2000.
The cafe fills a void in
sex education, the Post reports, as the subject is not taught
in schools, and "many
parents admit they are too embarrassed to raise the issue
with teenage children who
are becoming increasingly sexually active."
"There is a growing transformation of traditions," the
counselor said. "Premarital
sex is becoming more widespread, and we need to help people
with knowledge of
sex and reproductive health."
The idea for the cafe stemmed from a study that detailed
how young people
spent their time. Established with German funding under the
auspices of the National
AIDS Committee, it is modeled after a similar initiative in
Ho Chi Minh City. Cafe
manager Duong Thuy Hang said the cafe offers a place where
young people can
"spend time talking with their friends" and "freely ask for
information about sex and
AIDS."
Although the cafe will not distribute condoms, a female
physician specializing in
reproductive health and an HIV/AIDS counselor are available
to answer questions.
On average, about 50 customers aged 16 to 24, have visited
the cafe every day
since it opened last month
The South China Morning Post - December 20, 1999.
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