U.S.-supported HIV/AIDS Control Project Benefits 20,000 People in North Vietnam

At least 20,000 people in northern Vietnam have benefited from a project on fighting and preventing HIV/AIDS that receives financial and technical support from the U.S. embassy in Hanoi, according to the Vietnam Television, the country’s national station. The four-year project, which was kicked off in 2014 in the capital city of Hanoi and two mountainous provinces of Dien Bien and Lao Cai, has improved HIV/AIDS control capacity of authorities and volunteer organizations as well as brought about better treatment to people living with HIV (PLWH). The figure was released during a trip on Sept 6-7 to Dien Bien of U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius. During meetings with local leaders, the two sides discussed cooperation and support from the Vietnamese and U.S. governments for Dien Bien, especially in the diagnosis and treatment for HIV/AIDS. Vietnam currently has roughly 260,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in all cities and provinces nationwide and just more than half of them know about their HIV positive status. HIV/AIDS-infected people are mainly young and in working ages. The country has launched antiretroviral (ARV) programs to help improve life of people living with HIV. The country has called for joint efforts of people and social organizations and international support in order to eradicate the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2030. Vietnam has gradually prevented and repulsed the epidemic thanks to the supports of international organizations, including Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) which financed $6.9 million for HIV/AIDS control project in 15 provinces and cities across the country. Being the biggest donor of HIV/AIDS control in Vietnam, the U.S. government, through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program since 2005, has doled out almost $600 million to programs against HIV/AIDS in the Southeast Asian country. State media reported that the U.S. government has financed a total of $900 million for health programs in Vietnam since the normalization of relations in 1995. (Vtv.vn Sept 7)