BEIJING – Today, World Health Day, cities around the world are organizing events to present solutions to many public health challenges posed by urbanization. UNFPA China calls for improving access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information and services for youth migrants, who are most vulnerable to SRH risks during rural-urban migration.
According to the 2005 One Per Cent 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 sexually transmitted infections, HIV, unwanted pregnancies and other health problems.
“Youth migrants need support when involved in urbanization. When they leave home for better opportunities, they should have improved access to basic health services, especially sexual and reproductive health information and services,” says Bernard Coquelin, UNFPA Representative in China.
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 attitudes of service providers, the lack of privacy, the fear of embarrassment and the perception that one’s problem won’t be solved were some of the key reasons for dissatisfaction and the low uptake of SRH services.
The survey is a part of a UN joint initiative involving the Ministry of Health of China, civil society and nine UN agencies including WHO and UNFPA. Supported by the Spanish Millennium Development Goals Fund, the project aims to improve health awareness and access to health services among youth migrants. Innovative health promotion models and services friendly to youth migrants will be piloted with local partners from the health, labor and education sectors.
Many youth migrants tend to see community health centers as service providers only for urban residents. At a recent project meeting on intervention strategies, Wang Jinghong, Deputy Director of the Xincheng Center for Disease Control, Shaanxi Province, said, “We should let youth migrants know that our community health centers are the gas stations for their health, with services tailored for them.”
For more information, contact:
Gao Cuiling, Tel. +86-10-6532-0506, ext. 202, gao@unfpa.org
