2 Vietnam Journal of Public Health - www.vjph.vn 2017 Vol. 5 Iss. 1
Letter of Editor
Dear respectful readers and colleagues,
Welcome to the fi rst issue of volume 5
From November 27 to November 30, 2017, the 9th Asia–Pacifi c Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights will be held by the Vietnam Public Health Association (VPHA) in the World Heritage Ha Long Bay. To commemorate the occasion the Vietnam Journal of Public Health has published a special issue on “Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights”.
In 2015, the United Nations endorsed the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a commitment to overall development, equality and sustainability. SDGs seek to bring development, education and health to all, summarised in the message “Leave no one behind”. The SDGs have reaffi rmed and extended international commitment shown in the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) and moved towards more ambitious and encompassing targets in order to meet urgent global challenges, including issues related to sexual and reproductive health and rights.
In this publication, we present to the our readers some of the current issues in this important and developing fi eld. As we know, the existence of sexual harassment at the offi ce remains a major barrier for women in the workforce and may hinder their promotion. A series of articles address the need for adolescents to be able to access information on reproductive health. Several papers contain survey results on the current information sources used by adolescents. Many of the respondents felt a need to improve information providing an education challenge to schools, parents, and the public health services.
The research of Nguyen Ngoc Anh et al. documents the success of Vietnam in achieving a decade of fertility plateauing at the replacement level. They document fertility determinants which could help predict the course of total fertility in coming years.
The commentary written by Professor Thein Thein raises important questions on the topic of sexual rights and gender. This commentary will provide the basis for an important debate on sexual health and rights.
Last but not least, we want to say thanks for National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R24 HD056691; PIs Hirsch and Parker) for their grant to supportthis publication to coincide with the APCRSHR9. The enabled us to approach more authors who are researchers and decision-makers. Supporting was also provided by the Department of Sociomedical Sciences and the Center for the Study of Culture, Politics and Health.
I am proud to be able to introduce this special publication to you.
Editor of Vietnam Journal of Public Health
Anh - Vol 5 iss 1 Nov 2017.indd 2
Anh - Vol 5 iss 1 Nov 2017.indd 2 11/23/2017 9:37:11 PM11/23/2017 9:37:11 PM
