HIV/AIDS IN VIETNAM: USG INCREASES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 002814 SIPDIS AID FOR AID/ANE FERRARA BANGKOK ALSO FOR RMO DR. PENNER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KHIV TBIO EAID VM HIV AIDS SUBJECT: HIV/AIDS IN VIETNAM: USG INCREASES FINANCIAL/TECHNICAL SUPPORT FOR HIV/AIDS FIGHT UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 02 HANOI 02814 01 OF 02 260900Z -------------- --- USG-VIETNAM INCREASE ENGAGEMENT ON HEALTH ISSUES -------------- --- ¶1. IN A SIGNIFICANT BROADENING OF USG-GVN ENGAGEMENT ON HEALTH ISSUES, THE CHARGE AND VICE MINISTER OF HEALTH TRAN CHI LIEM SIGNED AN AGREEMENT ON OCTOBER 23 TO PROVIDE $2 MILLION TO THE HEALTH MINISTRY TO EXPAND ITS HIV/AIDS PREVENTION, CARE AND TREATMENT PROGRAMS. FROM THE CDC GLOBAL AIDS PROGRAM, THE FUNDS COVER THE FIRST YEAR OF A PROJECT THAT WILL CONTINUE FOR FIVE YEARS, TOTALING MORE THAN $10 MILLION. THE FUNDING WILL GO TO SUPPORT A WIDE RANGE OF HIV/AIDS PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES INCLUDING PEER EDUCATION, VOLUNTARY COUNSELING AND TESTING, PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF OTHER SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS, TUBERCULOSIS DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT, AND RELATED TRAINING. CDC HAS ALSO ASSIGNED TECHNICAL ADVISORS TO ASSIST THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH IN PLANNING, IMPLEMENTING AND EVALUATING THE PROGRAM. THE EXPANDED PROGRAM BUILDS ON THE TRAINING AND OPERATIONAL RESEARCH THAT CDC HAS BEEN PROVIDING TO THE VIETNAM AIDS PROGRAM SINCE 1999. ¶2. TWENTY-FOUR COUNTRIES IN ASIA, AFRICA, AND THE AMERICAS ARE NOW ELIGIBLE FOR THE CDC GLOBAL AIDS PROGRAM, INCLUDING VIETNAM, WHICH BECAME ELIGIBLE IN 2001, ALONG WITH THAILAND AND CAMBODIA. ¶3. IN ADDITION TO CDC/HHS SUPPORT FOR THE COMBAT AGAINST HIV/AIDS, USAID ALSO CARRIES OUT AN EXTENSIVE ANTI-HIV/AIDS EFFORT. USAID HAS BEEN FUNDING HIV/AIDS EDUCATION AND UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 03 HANOI 02814 01 OF 02 260900Z PREVENTION ACTIVITIES THROUGH ITS NGO PARTNERS OVER THE PAST FOUR YEARS. USAID'S CURRENT PROGRAM TOTALS APPROXIMATELY $2 MILLION PER YEAR FOR A VARIETY OF ACTIVITIES WITH A NUMBER OF NGO PARTNERS. USAID IS FUNDING FAMILY HEALTH INTERNATIONAL (FHI) TO PROVIDE COMPREHENSIVE HIV/AIDS PREVENTION PROGRAMS IN FOUR PROVINCES INCLUDING DROP-IN CENTERS FOR INJECTION DRUG USERS (IDUS) AND COMMERCIAL SEX WORKERS AND EXTENSIVE BEHAVIOR CHANGE COMMUNICATION CAMPAIGNS. IN ADDITION, FHI IS IMPLEMENTING BEHAVIORAL SURVEILLANCE SURVEYS IN FIVE PROVINCES TO TRACK BEHAVIOR CHANGES IN HIGH-RISK POPULATIONS SUCH AS IDUS AND SEX WORKERS. USAID FUNDS CONDOM SOCIAL MARKETING THROUGH DKT INTERNATIONAL IN SIX PROVINCES. USAID HAS INITIATED A GRANT TO THE NGO NETWORKS FOR HEALTH PROJECT TO BEGIN AN HIV/AIDS PREVENTION INITIATIVE IN LAO CAI PROVINCE WITH THE ETHNIC MINORITY POPULATION. THIS ACTIVITY FOCUSES ON YOUTH WORKERS IN TOURISM AND MINING. FINALLY, USAID IS ABOUT TO BEGIN TWO NEW ACTIVITIES: A $300,000 STUDY ON STIGMA AND DISCRIMINATION TO BE CARRIED OUT BY THE INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR RESEARCH ON WOMEN (ICRW),AND A POLICY DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY FOCUSING ON PEOPLE LIVING WITH AIDS, THROUGH THE FUTURES GROUP'S POLICY PROJECT. ¶4. IN EARLY OCTOBER, MORE THAN 100 VIETNAMESE PARTICIPATED IN THE SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON AIDS AND THE PACIFIC (ICAAP) IN MELBOURNE. THE VIETNAMESE DELEGATION INCLUDED THE MINISTER OF HEALTH, 25 PARTICIPANTS SPONSORED BY USAID, AND 10 SPONSORED BY CDC. -------------- HIV/AIDS IN VIETNAM -------------- UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 04 HANOI 02814 01 OF 02 260900Z ¶5. ACCORDING TO A RECENT GOVERNMENT PRESS RELEASE, VIETNAM HAS DETECTED 39,845 HIV INFECTED PEOPLE AS OF OCTOBER 1. HOWEVER, IT IS ESTIMATED THAT 107,000 PEOPLE ARE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS. AMONG THEM, 5,955 HAVE DEVELOPED FULL-BLOWN AIDS AND 3,247 DIED. THE LARGEST NUMBERS OF HIV-INFECTED PERSONS AND AIDS PATIENTS ARE FOUND IN QUANG NINH PROVINCE, AND THE CITIES OF HAIPHONG, HANOI, AND HO CHI MINH CITY. ALL 61 PROVINCES HAVE REPORTED HIV/AIDS CASES. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶6. VIETNAM HAS EXPERIENCED A MARKED INCREASE IN HIV INFECTION. DRUG INJECTION, LONG A PROBLEM IN VIETNAM, HAS CONTRIBUTED TO THE EXPLOSIVE EPIDEMIC GROWTH. HIV INFECTION AMONG IDUS NOW EXCEEDS 50% IN HO CHI MINH CITY AND HAIPHONG. THERE ARE ALARMING LINKAGES BETWEEN DRUG USERS AND OTHER POPULATIONS, PARTICULARLY SEX WORKERS. NEARLY A QUARTER OF IDUS IN HANOI AND OVER A FIFTH IN DA NANG SAID THAT THEY HAD BOUGHT SEX IN THE PAST YEAR, AND MOST DID NOT USE CONDOMS. THIS CLEARLY REPRESENTS A WORRYING POTENTIAL FOR THE WIDER SPREAD OF HIV TO SEX WORKERS AND THEIR CLIENTS. ¶7. THERE ARE POSITIVE SIGNS THAT THE VIETNAMESE DELEGATION'S ATTENDANCE AT THE ICAAP IN MELBOURNE HAS HELPED STRENGTHEN THE HAND OF THOSE IN THE GVN WHO ARGUE THAT HARM REDUCTION EFFORTS (SUCH AS NEEDLE EXCHANGE PROGRAMS) AND OTHER PUBLIC HEALTH APPROACHES ARE MORE EFFECTIVE IN REDUCING HIV/AIDS THAN THE CURRENT OFFICIAL GVN MENTALITY, WHICH TREATS HIV/AIDS AS A "SOCIAL EVIL" AND HAS HAMPERED THE FIGHT AGAINST THE DISEASE. PORTER UNCLASSIFIED