The governments of Australia and Netherlands have funded a three-year, US$8.9 million project on HIV/AIDS prevention in Hoa Binh, Tuyen Quang and Bac Kan provinces.

The project aims to reduce the spread of HIV linked to drugs and help avert HIV/AIDS transmission through harm reduction for high-risk groups.

It will also improve technical and programme management capacity at three ministries - health, labour and public security.

“By providing basic services, such as peer education on needle and condom safety, treatment of sexually-transmitted diseases and Methadone programmes, the project will touch sensitive aspects of life that need strong attention from health staff and provincial administration managers,” said director of the HIV/AIDS Administration of Viet Nam Nguyen Thanh Long from MoH.

The project will focus on health centres, work sites, prisons and detention centres run by the Ministry of Public Security.

With more than 3,000 reported HIV carriers, Hoa Binh, Tuyen Quang and Bac Kan provinces have a 50-84 per cent rate of HIV infection among intravenous drug users.

Overall, Viet Nam has more than 200,000 HIV cases, of which more than 34,000 have full-blown AIDS.

US assistance

Meanwhile, it was announced yesterday that 750 people living with HIV and those looking after orphans and vulnerable children in seven provinces with high HIV prevalence will receive loans to establish small businesses and develop other livelihood activities.

The US-funded programme aims to make disadvantaged people secure from hunger. Each of the loan recipients in Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Nghe An, Can Tho, An Giang and HCM City will receive an average of $450 during the next 12 months from a project fund of $300,000. Women who support at least five other family members will be the main beneficiaries.

“This is a great help for women living with and affected by HIV. We will provide training on small-business management and related skills for them and build upon our experiences with previous micro-credit projects,” said project administrator Nguyen Thi Hoa Binh, who is also director of the Women, AIDS and Health Centre under Viet Nam Women’s Union.

A loan will be considered successful if at least 40 per cent is repaid in the first year and at least 80 per cent within three years. Loan repayments will become capital for loans to other people.

The project is funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) under the US President’s Emergency Fund for AIDS relief (PEPFAR) with management support from UNAIDS Viet Nam.

Eamonn Murphy, USAIDS Viet Nam Country Director, said: “I have witnessed many successful stories of people living with HIV making good use of the loan in our previous projects.

“A group of six people in Hai Phong borrowed a loan before and developed their business successfully. Now they’re able to support more than 200 people.”

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News