A plan hatched by a British charity and Vietnamese health officials to develop 500 high-quality health clinics across Viet Nam within five years has received strong backing from the Vietnamese Ministry of Health.
The plan will see a series of franchise clinics set up across the country to tackle reproductive issues from abortion to family planning to sexually transmitted diseases.
Leading the charge will be the UK-based charity Marie Stopes International. The organisation was created in 1921 by its namesake, who set up a clinic in London to provide poor women access to contraception, family planning and reproductive health. Stopes clinics eventually blossomed across Britain, despite criticism from the church and other doctors.
Marie Stopes International Viet Nam (MSIVN) was set up in 1989 as part of an expanding global network treating 4.3 million people a year. While it still treats women’s issues as its core business, it has expanded to treat any health problems experienced by the poor.
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