The world community supports Vietnam’s fight against HIV/AIDS — TalkVietnam

The Chairman of the National Steering Committee on HIV/AIDS, drug abuse and prostitution, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, has met Ambassadors and heads of international organizations who have sponsored Vietnam’s HIV/AIDS control efforts.



At an annual reception in Hanoi on Tuesday, the Deputy Prime Minister said he hoped for even more support for Vietnam: “Compulsory detoxification centers will comply with recommendations by international organizations for protecting patients’ rights. It’s important to help them reintegrate into the community after detoxification. I call for international support in financing and also in conducting constructive and humanitarian dialogues.”



International donors praised the government’s achievements in the fight against HIV/AIDS and drug abuse and pledged more support in helping Vietnam confront the challenge.










The world community supports Vietnam’s fight against HIV/AIDS — TalkVietnam

Vietnam latest news | AIDs pill not licensed in Vietnam yet, official says

AIDs pill not licensed in Vietnam yet, official says 

Last Updated: Friday, August 10, 2012 05:40:00

Vietnam’s drug administration said it has not licensed an AIDS cure called Profital that many people are looking for after claims that the drug was invented by Russian scientists and tested successfully on humans.

Nguyen Van Thanh, head of the Drug Management Department at the Ministry of Health, said Thursday that they have not had the drug registered or granted a license for its import.

Thanh said several "means of public communication" had run advertisements and commercials about the drug, triggering a public rush for the crowd.

But the department has not received official information from Russia’s drug management agencies, and thus cannot provide any facts about the medical effect of Profital on HIV/AIDS, he said.

“People should not buy or use any medicine without reliable origins that have not been licensed by the authorities,” Thanh said.

As of the end of last year, Vietnam had nearly 198,000 HIV infections accounting for 0.22 percent of the population, including more than 14,000 new cases, the National Committee of HIV/AIDS Prevention said in a February report.

Most of the new cases occurred in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and northern provinces, and were caused by drug use and prostitution.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung recently approved a plan aiming to contain HIV/AIDS infections at under 0.3 percent of the population by 2020.

It calls for the utilization of  modern technologies to prevent all new infections and deaths from AIDS by 2030.

Vietnam latest news - Thanh Nien Daily | 13th HIV case detected in Mekong Delta commune

Another HIV case was detected in a tiny Mekong Delta commune where 12 men have already tested positive for the deadly virus, according to the Ben Tre Province HIV/AIDS Prevention Center.

A 60-year-old man, identified only by his initials P.V.O., is the 13th HIV patient in Mo Cay Nam District's Ngai Dang Commune, announced the center on Friday.

According to the center, O. felt ill and went to the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City where he tested positive for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

So far, Vietnamese doctors have been unable to determine why and how 12 men from the same Mekong Delta commune contracted HIV.

Dr Tran Tan Dat, director of the Ben Tre Province center, told Voice of Vietnam (VOV) radio last month that there was no solid evidence proving how the men in Ngai Dang acquired the virus.

Most of them have had HIV for at least five years and four of them are now showing signs of full-blown AIDS. Dat also rejected allegations made by the men that Do Van Be, a retired nurse who runs an unlicensed medical clinic at his house in Phu Dang Hamlet, gave them HIV through his needles. Dat said the claim was "baseless." 

The earliest any of the 12 men had received injections at Be’s clinic was two years ago, though they have had HIV for at least five years, Dat said. He also argued that Be had provided injections for dozens, if not hundreds, of men, women and children who have not acquired the virus.

The commune attracted public attention after local media ran stories in May about the 12 male residents, aged 20 to 62, who were all found carrying HIV.

The case came to light when Nguyen Van Chien, 58, went to a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City for kidney treatment in January and was told he had HIV, according to Tien Phong newspaper.

After returning home, Chien assumed that he had contracted the virus via injections from Be, the retired nurse. He informed other villagers of the news and they went to hospitals in HCMC and Ben Tre Province to have their blood tested.

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Doctors puzzled by Mekong Delta HIV cases

Eleven other men tested positive for the virus, six of them from one family – Huynh Van Hong, his two sons, two nephews and a cousin.

The Ben Tre Province AIDS Prevention Center then conducted tests on 31 residents in Ngai Dang, and the results once again confirmed that the 12 men had HIV.

The men insisted that they did not use drugs or have sex with anyone but their wives, all of whom have tested negative for the virus.

The men blamed Be for re-using needles on them, but the retired nurse denied the charge, saying he uses disposable syringes.

According to some doctors, the number of HIV patients in Ngai Dang may be even higher than 13 as many residents have not tested for HIV, and some who may have tested positive may not have publicized the results.

At least 70,000 newly-born babies HIV positive in Nigeria: official | Look At Vietnam

At least 70,000 newly-born babies HIV positive in Nigeria: official

April 15, 2012

The Nigerian government on Thursday said about 70,000 newly born babies in the West African country are HIV positive.
Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) John Idoko disclosed this in Nigeria’s southwestern state of Ogun during a call on State governor Ibikunle Amosun in Abeokuta, the state capital.
Idoko also said HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria were prevalent among Nigerian pregnant women.
He stressed that the agency was ready to partner with the Ogun State government on preventive policy.
Idoko called for the improvement of the State Action Committee on AIDS (SACA) to be able to fight the spread of the scourge.
According to him, the agency was willing to collaborate with any agency to improve the health status of the Nigerian people.
Idoko urged all levels of government to assist the agency in strengthening the fight against HIV/AIDS and other related diseases, saying the agency would work hard to eliminate mother- to-child transmission.
VietNamNet/Xinhuanet

US give to Cambodia $35 mn

US to give $35 mn to Cambodia
2011-10-25 22:30:00
Phnom Penh, Oct 25 (IANS) The US will provide about $35 million to Cambodia to help improve the country's health and the education sector, the US embassy here said Tuesday. Agreements on this were signed by Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong and mission director of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) Flynn Fuller, Xinhua reported. The money will support a variety of ongoing activities to reduce the transmission and impact of HIV/AIDS, prevent and control infectious diseases, improve maternal, reproductive, and children's health, and strengthen public health systems. The funds will also support ongoing education programmes aimed at improving the quality and relevance of basic education and increasing access to schooling for children, the US embassy said in a statement.