Vietnam set priorities for HIV/AIDS prevention in 2006

By the end of September this year, Vietnam had 101,291 HIV/AIDS positive people, 16,528 of whom have developed full-blown AIDS and 9,554 have died of the disease.

In the first nine months of this year, another 10,911 people were infected with HIV/AIDS, up 15.47 percent compared with the same period last year.

According to estimates from the Ministry of Health (MoH) and other international organisations, Vietnam will have 300,000 HIV/AIDS carriers by the end of 2010.

Dr Nguyen Huy Nga, director of the Department of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control under the MoH, said many inter-ministerial and community-based activities have been held.

The Ministry of Public Security has organised training courses o­n taking care of, giving treatments and providing consultant advice for HIV/AIDS carriers at the ministry’s health centres, medics at detention centres, prisons and investigation police forces in provinces and cities.

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs has directed 83 health centres to disseminate information o­n HIV/AIDS prevention and control to more than 50,000 drug-addicted people in detoxification centres. The ministry is co-operating with relevant agencies to develop policies for staff and nurses in detoxification centres and regulations for children affected by HIV/AIDS. The ministry has also co-operated with the US Education Development Institute to carry out a project to manage HIV/AIDS prevention and control in work places. The project has attracted the participation of 10 provinces and cities.

Apart from disseminating information o­n HIV/AIDS to recruits, the Ministry of Defence has held workshops o­n HIV/AIDS for more than 265,000 soldiers and officers. It has also helped support the activities of HIV/AIDS clubs and co-operated with youth unions to organise activities o­n HIV/AIDS programmes.

The HIV/AIDS prevention programme in 2006 will focus o­n intensifying media activities about HIV/AIDS prevention, devising measures to minise negative impacts and provide consultant advice o­n care and medical treatment for infected people.

In addition, the State will give investment priority to provinces and cities that do not have HIV/AIDS prevention co-operation projects while continuing equal distribution in order to use investment capital effectively.

By the end of September, 2005, as many as 311,586 people were provided with consultation o­n HIV/AIDS prevention.