U.S. Funds Vietnam $26M to Strengthen HIV/AIDS Response

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on July 27 unveiled a $26 million project to promote and ensure sustainable HIV/AIDS prevention and combat in Vietnam, state media reported. The Sustainable HIV Response from Technical Assistance Project, implemented until 2021, is expected to improve Vietnam’s human, organizational and systems capacity to lead the national response. In 2014, Vietnam was the first Asian nation to commit to the “90-90-90 target” set by the UN Program on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) to end HIV/AIDS in Vietnam by 2020. Accordingly, 90% of all people living with HIV will know their HIV status, 90% of all people diagnosed with HIV will receive sustained antiretroviral (ARV) therapy and 90% of all people on ARV treatment will have durable viral suppression by 2020. USAID first supported HIV/AIDS programs in Vietnam in the mid-1990s. Since 2005, the U.S. government has supported life-saving antiretroviral treatment for almost 57,000 people and provided care to more than 62,000 adults and children in Vietnam. Last year, the US provided HIV tests to more than 375,000 people and methadone replacement therapy to almost 25,000 people in the Southeast Asian country. (Tien Phong – Pioneer July 28 p3, Thoi Bao Kinh Te Viet Nam – Vietnam Economic Times July 28 p3)