Nguyen Thi Nhu Ngoc, MD, Medical Director, Hung Vuong Hospital, 128 Hung Vuong Street, Ho Chi Minh City, Q5, Vietnam, 848 858 6296, hbracken@popcouncil.org

Mifepristone medical abortion has been available to Vietnamese women via clinical studies since 1992. The method was approved by the Vietnamese Ministry of Health's Scientific Committee in April 2002 and formalized into the new National Reproductive Health Guidelines the following year. The guidelines authorize use of 200 mg mifepristone dose followed by 40 mcg oral misoprostol. For now, medical abortion is recommended for use at tertiary level facilities only and home use of misoprostol is not yet authorized. Unfortunately, a registered product was not available until January 2004 resulting in a slowed uptake via formal channels, combined with widespread evidence of use of black market products from China and Taiwan. Given the relatively large number of abortions that occur annually in Vietnam, this method has a huge potential to reduce unneeded surgeries. This presentation will outline the path taken to engage the Vietnamese Ministry of Health in this method's introduction, and provide needed technical assistance and training in a effort to demonstrate the potential of medical abortion and garner local support to move the method onto the forefront of agendas for reproductive health leaders in this country.

Learning Objectives:

• At the end of this session, participants will be able to identify the factors that hindered the approval of mifepristone in Vietnam; Name the strategies used to enlist Ministry of Health support for the technology

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.