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New forum for people living with HIV
[February 25, 2009]

New forum for people living with HIV


February 24, Feb 24, 2009 (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX) -- People who live with HIV, including sufferers and their families, now have one more forum to share information with each other and the community, following the launch of a new website, at http://nch.vn, on Feb. 19.



The website is part of a project dedicated to HIV/AIDS prevention through communication and the dissemination of information, which calls for the involvement of society as a whole, particularly those infected with HIV, in the fight against the disease.

The project was launched in July 2007 and is funded by the Ford Foundation, with the assistance of the Institute for Social Development Studies and the ?For a Bright Future? network.


According to Khuat Thi Hai Oanh, a project officer, when talking about HIV prevention, people often only think of prevention and safety for healthy people and do not appreciate the role that can be played by those already living with HIV.

Even social workers working in the field of HIV prevention hold that people living with HIV are traditionally the objects of intervention, not the subjects who are engaged in making changes, she added.

Experiences in countries that have achieved success in preventing the spread of HIV, including Thailand and Cambodia , indicate that the active role of people living with HIV is crucial to success.

There have been clubs and networks in Vietnam that have proved effective in helping people living with HIV lead a more healthy life and preventing the epidemic across the country.

According to the Ministry of Health, all 63 provinces and cities throughout the country have reported cases of HIV infection, and 84 percent of the infected are at ages from 20 and 39.

A report of the ministry says there 135,000 people living with HIV across the country, and 29,000 of them are in the AIDS phase.

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