-- United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) China Says on World Health Day
BEIJING, April 7 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Today, World Health Day, cities around the world are organizing events to present solutions to many public health challenges posed by urbanization. United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in China calls for improving access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information and services to youth migrants, who are most vulnerable to SRH risks during rural urban migration.
According to the 2005 One Percent Population Sample Survey, China's migrant population almost reached 150 million, while youth migrants aged 15-24 took up nearly one quarter of the total. With the scale of migration increasing and social values changing, youth migrants are facing the risks of STI, HIV, unwanted pregnancies, and other health problems.
"Youth migrants need support when involved in urbanization. While they leave home for better opportunities, they should have improved access to basic health services, especially sexual and reproductive health information and services," says Dr. Bernard Coquelin, UNFPA China Representative.
A recent survey on awareness of health risks among youth migrants conducted by the Public Health School of Beijing University found out that youth migrants in the project sites in Xi'an and Tianjin lack adequate knowledge on sexual and reproductive health. The utilization of available SRH services is also much lower compared to that of other health services. The high service costs, the attitude of service providers, the lack of privacy, the fear for embarrassment and perception that one's problem won't be solved, were some of the key reasons for the low uptake or dissatisfaction of SRH services.
The survey is a part of a UN joint initiative involving Ministry of Health of China, the civil society and 9 UN agencies including WHO and UNFPA. Supported by Spanish Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Fund, the project aims to improve health awareness and access to health services among youth migrants. Innovative health promotion models and youth-migrants friendly services will be piloted with local partners from health, labor and education sectors. "We should let youth migrants know that our community health centers are the gas stations for their health with tailored services for them," Ms. Wang Jinghong, Deputy Director of Xincheng Center for Disease Control, Shaanxi Province, said at a recent project meeting on intervention strategies, realizing that youth migrants tend to see community health centers as service providers for urban residents only.
