The governments of Australia and Netherlands have pledged to finance $11 million to help Vietnam continue preventing HIV transmission through the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) in three provinces until 2013. Under the project, a fundamental service package will be provided to people vulnerable to social evils in the three northern provinces of Hoa Binh, Tuyen Quang and Bac Kanthe government said on its website. The project will ensure safe syringes and methadone treatment to drug users, as well as medical services to people of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and those caught with AIDS and tuberculosis. The project is expected to create jobs to drug users as well as improve people’s awareness of HIV/AIDS amid high discrimination among the community. Within the project, knowledge of HIV/AIDS prevention will also provided to medical staff, policemen, and social workers in the context of insignificant investment in fighting against these issues. In the first half of this year, about 500,000 safe syringes and roughly 300,000 condoms were allocated to those groups. (Chinhphu Oct 12)
