Vietnam - Vietnam to get less foreign aid for HIV/AIDS control

HCMC – Some foreign organizations will slash funding for Vietnam’s HIV/AIDS Prevention Program by at least 50% next year from an average of VND100-200 billion as Vietnam is now a middle-income country.

Tieu Thi Thu Van, deputy chief of the office of the HIV/AIDS Prevention Committee in HCMC, said the city could only afford around 10% of the total spending of the program every year, while the rest was sourced from international aid.

“From 2005 to 2010, the organizations supported a total of over VND600 billion but the funding will be slashed by at least half in 2012,” Van told the Daily on the sidelines of a meeting held on Thursday.

The World Bank and Medecins du Monde France (MDMF) will close the project in late 2012 while the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and Global AIDS Fund will continue until 2013.

To maintain the activities of the program, according to Van, the health industry must restructure and recheck activities as well as models of the program to find more effective operation methods instead of relying on the Government.

“The activities, of course, will be more diverse and more effective when the funding is abundant, but they can be maintained even when the funding is scarce. We are able to judge nothing on the future result right now,” Van added.

The health industry is awaiting sponsorship to partly offset the international funding cuts, including the National Target Program on HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control which was submitted to the Government.

The industry also wants to spend the funding from medical and social insurances on AIDS patients, which still needs time to set up concrete policies by the Ministry of Health and relevant ministries and industries. HIV/AIDS patients’ contribution is also taken into account.

“Those patients are enjoying free treatment in accordance with the current law which can be proposed to be amended to suit the situation if necessary,” Van continued.

In HCMC, there are over 44,000 people who have contracted HIV/AIDS and there are around 3,000 new HIV patients every year. However, 2011 is estimated to see a slight drop in the number of patients against last year.

Van said the reported figures just included those who were tested.

By Dao Loan - The Saigon Times Daily

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