Binh Dinh (VNA) – The Center for Supporting Community Development Initiative (SCDI) held a workshop on November 23 in the south central coastal province of Binh Dinh to seek ways to support the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community’s access to health care services.
The event, which saw the participation of 500 members from the country’s LGBT association, also aimed to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment and provide knowledge about hepatitis B virus (HBV) and reproductive health, and tuberculosis.
Witha new dedicated centre for the LGBT community established in June, people whoneed counselling now have a place to go. Though it is based in HCM City,the centre will offer advice to anyone in the country.
Patientsin the LGBT community and those who have HIV can call the centre to receivecounselling and monitoring of their health while taking hormones or aftersex-change surgery performed outside the country.
Theagreement to cooperate to provide counselling services was recently signedbetween the Men’s HealthCenter and G-Link, asocial enterprise providing comprehensive health care and communication toimprove society’s awareness of transgender women and men who have sex with men.
Theclinic will offer free counselling about therapy, examinations andtreatments, all of which will be offered at low cost, to the LGBT community andpeople diagnosed with HIV. Foreigners who live and work in the country canalso access the services.
TheMinistry of Health estimates that Vietnam has 270,000 to 300,000people who want to have transition to another gender.
Aspart of the country’s Civil Code issued in 2015, the Law on Civil Statusaddresses gender transition rights and the definition of transgender people.
Accordingly,individuals who have gone through gender transition have rights andresponsibility to register their gender change.
“They have the right toredefine gender in case of congenital defects or indeterminate sex at birth andhave medical intervention,” according to a provision in the current Law onCivil Status.-VNA