US supports HIV/AIDS response in Vietnam

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded a five-year grant to the Center for Promotion of Quality of Life (LIFE) in Vietnam to strengthen community-led approaches to HIV prevention, care and treatment.

The USAID Enhanced Community HIV Link – Southern project, implemented in Ho Chi Minh City, aims to deliver effective HIV/AIDS services to men who have sex with men and people living with HIV, the US Embassy in Hanoi said in a statement.

In the first two years, the project will significantly contribute toward the fight against HIV in Vietnam by serving more than 18,000 people in the first target group and 1,550 in the second group.

The project will mobilize members of local organizations to apply creative and effective approaches to detect new HIV cases and connect at-risk populations to healthcare.

“Community-based organizations are critical partners as Vietnam strives to achieve its ambitious targets,” said USAID Vietnam mission director Michael Greene.

“We expect that our partner, LIFE, will strengthen the capacity of community-based organizations and the HIV/AIDS services that they provide to support a sustainable HIV/AIDS response in Vietnam.”

The US-funded grant will build on the success of the USAID Community HIV Link-Southern project, also implemented by LIFE from May 2014 to May 2016. This project successfully delivered effective community-based HIV/AIDS services to 8,000 people from at-risk populations, including drug users and female sex workers, and 2,000 people living with HIV in HCMC, Can Tho and An Giang provinces.

The project also strengthened capacity for 23 community-based organizations working on HIV/AIDS in these provinces and facilitated coordination with key stakeholders in the HIV/AIDS sector at the provincial and national level.