The launching ceremony of the Young Health Programme (YHP) Vietnam phase 2 in Hà Nội. The programme aims to improve knowledge about non-communicable diseases among young people. — Photo Courtesy AstraZeneca Vietnam

HÀ NỘI — Phase 2 of the Young Health Programme (YHP) Vietnam, which aims to contribute to improving the health and wellbeing of young people between age 10 and 24, was launched in Hà Nội by the Ministry of Education and Training, in partnership with AstraZeneca and Plan International Vietnam.

The programme is a global initiative of AstraZeneca that emphasises youth well-being and the prevention of major non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer, diabetes, and heart and respiratory diseases. 

During the three-year programme, along with public awareness campaigns, school activities are to be carried out in Cầu Giấy, Long Biên, Đông Anh and Hai Bà Trưng districts in Hà Nội. 

The programme will improve knowledge about risk behaviours and NCDs prevention, which gives young people greater capacity to make informed decisions about their health in the context of improved health services, and an enabling support system and policy environment.

The programme hopes to reach about 49,300 youth directly with health information and NCDs prevention programming in 29 project schools and universities in this second phase. 

Indirectly, it will reach an additional 300,000 beneficiaries in the wider community through online awareness raising activities. 

Globally, the AstraZeneca Young Health Programme has reached more than 10 million youth in more than 40 countries across five continents since it was launched in 2010. 

In its three years of implementation from 2019 to 2022, despite challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the YHP Vietnam phase 1 successfully achieved all its objectives, delivering a great impact to its target beneficiaries. 

Thanks to the programme, 81 per cent of young people showed an increase in knowledge related to NCD risk factors; 79 per cent showed an increase in awareness of three or more NCDs, and the proportion of young people with positive behaviours related to a healthy diet increased by 63 per cent.

In order to improve the prevention of NCDs and carry out the School Health Programme for the period of 2021-2025, the Ministry of Education and Training coordinated with Plan International Vietnam to implement the Young Health Programme for the period 2023 - 2025 with non-refundable aid by AstraZeneca. 

Recent World Health Organisation (WHO) data reveals that NCDs caused 77 per cent of all deaths in Việt Nam in 2018, highlighting the pressing need for initiatives like YHP. 

Việt Nam's youth, constituting 21 per cent of the country 98 million population, are particularly vulnerable, with behaviours often set during school years leading to NCD risks later in life. — VNS