U.S. Helps Launch First-ever Website against HIV in Vietnam

The first website on HIV/AIDS prevention in Vietnam has been launched under the support by the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and University of Washington. The website will provide medical education in the area of HIV/AIDS for professional doctors in order to improve their service delivery. The move aims to strengthen the national healthcare system and raise the capacity to effectively counter the spread of HIV.The website offers information in critical areas such as HIV/TB co-infections, the side effects of antiretroviral treatment, new approaches to HIV testing and counseling needs, as well as looks at case studies of people infected with HIV through video and audio lectures. The launching ceremony was held on Nov 29 at Hanoi Medical University.As of June 2012, the number of people living with HIV (PLWH) in Vietnam hit 204,019, including 58,569 AIDS-caught people and 61,856 AIDS-caused deaths as shown in the statistics by the Ministry of Health. (Phap Luat Viet Nam – Vietnam Law Dec 3 p2)