Friday in Hanoi, Vietnam's first national survey on youth was released. Done in cooperation with the World Health Organization and UNICEF, the survey of 7,584 people ages 14-25 asked questions about health, sexuality, education, and family lives.

According to the survey, the average age of the first sexual encounter is 19.6. Ninety-seven percent of Vietnamese said they had heard of HIV/AIDS, and the same number agreed that if properly used, condoms could prevent HIV. Seventy percent, however, said that condoms reduce pleasure.

Only 60 percent of young people in Vietnam know about homosexuality and of those, four out of five said they would not accept a gay person as a friend.

Though the survey is important for government policy makers, it is useless without action, said Hans Troedsson, WHO's representative in Hanoi. "We would like to see that these data will be used constructively. The challenge for us all now is not to understand or read through the report, it's really to take the knowledge in the report and turn it into action," said Troedsson.

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