In collaboration with the GOPFP, Bayer has successfully carried out a series of high-profile projects including the "Live Your Life, Fulfill Your Goals" initiative including a series of lectures and seminars held over the course of 4 years to educate employees about safe contraception; the "Understanding contraception" online contest to highlight the efforts of population authorities, attracting the attention of 428,000 women nationwide; and the "Inspirational story writing" contest, engaging government officials nationwide. The mobile application "Live Proactively" is now the go-to resource for reproductive health and contraceptive methods, including a forum to consult renowned specialists. The app has helped improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of women nationwide in the first year of its launch.

Throughout the coming 5 years of the second phase of “Family Planning Communication Program for Public Health”, Bayer Vietnam and the GOPFP will pool their resources and relevant expertise to pursue the three following goals: help women make informed decisions about their pregnancy for a better future; help women avoid obstetric complications for better health; and help women prevent unwanted pregnancies, to improve their family and career life. In phase 2 of the “Family Planning Communication Program for Public Health” program, Bayer Vietnam and the GOPFP will build on the momentum of these initiatives to improve the health and quality of life for women in Vietnam. Phase 2 will focus on utilizing digital platforms in communication and counseling activities, thereby helping women raise awareness about reproductive health and family planning.

Doctor Pham Vu Hoang, Deputy Director of the GOPFP, shared, “In order to successfully achieve our goals, aside from the constant effort of the GOPFP and relevant departments, we also have the support of companies and businesses, especially Bayer Vietnam. With this partnership, the GOPFP is confident and believes that the journey to better reproductive health and family planning will be successful.”

COVID-19 has hindered women’s access to sexual and reproductive healthcare facilities and information, with 68% of 105 countries seeing disruptions in family planning and contraceptive services¹. There are three key problems that were further aggravated by the pandemic: delays in getting family planning  information to women; delays in women being able to physically access medical facilities, physicians and medication due to movement restrictions; and delays in getting health services up and running again. In Vietnam, COVID-19 has been a profound disruptor of daily lives and hindered critical health services, such as reproductive health and family planning. According to the GOPFP, 62 in 100 abortions among married women aged 15-49 were unplanned pregnancies. In addition, mothers who have contracted COVID-19 face additional challenges such as health complications from the virus, restricted physical contact with their newborns and inaccessibility of medical services due to the ongoing shortage of healthcare personnel. This clearly demonstrates the need for more dedicated work to improve sexual and reproductive health for women. It also underlines the importance of continuous activities like World Contraception Day.

Recognizing the importance of digital platforms, for phase 2 of the “Family Planning Communication Program for Public Health”, Bayer and GOPFP will shift from face-to-face interactions to a digitally focused communication strategy, allowing women to safely and easily access information on reproductive healthcare and family planning. With internet penetration reaching 70.3% in Vietnam and as many as 73% of the population active on social media², Bayer and the GOPFP are confident they can reach and engage a far wider audience with livestream events and digital consultations sessions with accomplished healthcare professionals. The two sides will also develop applications to provide information and promote communication about marriage, family planning and reproductive health on social networks.

In this COVID-19 era, every effort to innovate with technology today will shape women’s ability to take control of their health over the next decade. On World Contraception Day, Bayer also organized a lot of activities worldwide. Regionally Bayer has organized an Asia Pacific virtual roundtable titled #TakeControl: Shaping Digital Health for Women in the COVID Decade on September 24. The forum brought together key thought-leaders from across the region, for an insightful discussion on how we can take joint action to innovative with technology to overcome existing access barriers in healthcare, meaningfully engage women on flourishing online platforms, and chart an empowered future for women’s health and family planning. The company has also developed a video which features all around the world Youths, Youth advocates, NGOs, health organizations, politicians, journalists, teachers, doctors and parents all engage in a dialogue centered on family planning and sexual health. 

Contraceptive care is so much more than just preventing a pregnancy. It impacts not only the person but the community by changing the opportunities that people have for increased access to education, career opportunities and even the socio-economic determinants of health, which allow them to have food security versus insecurity, home stability versus instability, relationship choices, and overall safety and wellness. And that’s for both men and women. We need to educate women - and men -, whenever there is a chance – starting in school with young girls and continuing throughout women’s lives, since even adult women often lack knowledge on topics like heavy menstrual bleeding or menopause. The more girls and women know about their bodies and their health, the better they can assess when something is not normal - even if their peers say otherwise.

“I would encourage every woman to start a conversation. Talk to your family and friends and you’ll find out that you are not the only one facing those issues. Get over your shame and speak to your gynecologist. Your physician knows all those problems and is used to talking about them - you don't have to be uncomfortable with anything. Another possibility is to use the many forums and discussion groups on the internet where you can have a conversation with experts and other people affected. You will see that you are not alone. But be careful and make sure that you only follow information from reliable, scientifically based sources. Unfortunately, there are many unreliable sources of information out there, perpetuating myths and misinformation. When in doubt, ask your doctor for information and advice”, added Dr. Tran Thi Lan Huong.

  ¹“Building Resilient Sexual and Reproductive Health Supply Chains During COVID-19 and Beyond”, Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition, 2021
  ²“Digital 2021: Vietnam” by We Are Social and Hootsuite, 2021

About World Contraception Day 

For 15 years, World Contraception Day (WCD) has taken place annually on September 26 and marks the annual highlight of the ongoing communication of the Your Life campaign. It is a well-established official awareness day that puts sexual rights and contraception in focus in more than 70 countries ‒ on political, media and public levels. The project began in Central America in 2003. Several partners joined up to launch a local event promoting the use of contraceptives. The idea quickly gained popularity, and in 2007 it was transformed into the global event it is today. 

About Women’s Healthcare at Bayer 

Bayer is a recognized leader in the area of women’s healthcare, with a long-standing commitment to delivering science for a better life by advancing a portfolio of innovative treatments. Bayer offers a wide range of effective short- and long-acting birth control methods as well as therapies for menopause management and gynecological diseases. Bayer is also focusing on innovative options to address the unmet medical needs of women worldwide. Today, Bayer’s research and development efforts focus on finding new treatment options for menopause as well as gynecological diseases and includes several compounds in various stages of pre-clinical and clinical development. Together, these projects reflect the company’s approach to research, which prioritizes targets and pathways with the potential to alter the way that gynecological diseases are treated. Additionally, Bayer intends to provide 100 million women in low-and-middle income countries by 2030 with access to family planning by funding multi-stakeholder aid programs and by ensuring the supply of affordable modern contraceptives. This is part of the comprehensive sustainability measures and commitments from 2020 onwards and in line with the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. 

About Bayer

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. Its products and services are designed to help people and planet thrive by supporting efforts to master the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population. Bayer is committed to drive sustainable development and generate a positive impact with its businesses. At the same time, the Group aims to increase its earning power and create value through innovation and growth. The Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability and quality throughout the world. In fiscal 2020, the Group employed around 100,000 people and had sales of 41.4 billion euros. R&D expenses before special items amounted to 4.9 billion euros. For more information, go to www.bayer.com.