Running deer

BRIGHTLY coloured plastic flowers greet patients at the reception desk of Nguyen To Hao’s abortion clinic. Yet the mood in her waiting room is grim. Ms Hao, an obstetrician and gynaecologist, says that many of her patients are teenagers who know shockingly little about sex or its consequences. Some young women with late-term pregnancies are sent to a nearby hospital for abortions; others carry their pregnancies to term and leave their newborn babies in the care of Buddhist monks.

Unwanted pregnancies could be avoided if only Vietnam had better sex education in secondary schools. A Vietnamese adage claims that avoiding discussions of sex is the surest way to “prevent the deer from running”. Yet the deer are “already running”, Dr Hao insists, and the government is failing to guide them.