Vietnamese Prime Minister has approved to add $297,000 to a HIV prevention project funded by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in an extension to March 31, 2012. The Ministry of Police will cooperate with the UNODC and Vietnamese agencies to conduct the project under the new deadline, the government said on its website. The one-year project “HIV Prevention, Care, Treatment and Support in Prison Including Pre-Trial Detention Centers in Vietnam coded VNM/K16” costing $1.15 million launched in April 2010 was aimed to boost awareness of HIV prevention among police, detainees and offenders. Main beneficiaries of the project are all-level prison staff under the Ministry of Public Security as well as prisoners, detainees, their partners and the community, the UNODC said. It is to reduce the risks of HIV transmission among populations in prisons and other detention settings in Vietnam. It contributes to the efforts of the country towards achieving universal access in particular for prison population, said the UNODC. The project will help Vietnam complete Millennium Goals in HIV/AIDS fighting, said Jason Eligh from the UNODC. Vietnam has around 100 pre-trial detention centers and prisons with more than 90,000 prisoners, said Pham Quang Cu, deputy head of General Department of Logistics & Technology under the Ministry of Police, adding that up to 30% of them involve in drug using who are at high risks of HIV/AIDS transmission. Vietnam currently has more than 230,000 people living with HIV. (Chinhphu Aug 29, www.unodc.org [1])
