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NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue attends the 43rd General Assembly of ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA-43)’s first plenary session in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. In his speech at the 43rd General Assembly of ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA-43)’s first plenary session in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on November 21, the top Vietnamese legislator affirmed that the Vietnamese legislature will step up efforts to carry out commitments and resolutions to be adopted by the AIPA-43. He applauded the role of Cambodia as Chair of ASEAN and AIPA this year as well as ASEAN member states’ sustained efforts and determination to jointly respond to challenges for the harmony, peace, and prosperity in the region. After 55 years since its establishment and seven years of building the ASEAN Community, the regional bloc has made great strides in a variety of fields, becoming an organisation with an important role for regional peace, stability and security; a vibrant and highly integrated econo...

Illustrative image. Photo: VNA Vietnam has made significant progress in improving sexual and reproductive health of the general population in the past 20 years and was one of the only six countries in the world, which achieved, in 2015, the Millennium Development Goal 5 (MDG5) on the reduction of maternal mortality. However, disparities and inequalities remain in access to and utilization of sexual and reproductive health services among different ethnicities and regions. Only 11% of the ethnic minority mothers in 60 communes of the most disadvantaged provinces, namely Bac Kan, Lai Chau, Son La, Dak Nong, Kon Tum and Gia Lai receive antenatal care at least four times, which is the minimum requirement. The percentage of mothers delivered in health facilities is extremely low at about 30%. These are among the important results of a study conducted for the project “Leaving no one behind: Innovative interventions to reduce maternal mortality in the ethnic minority region in V...