U.S. Announces Programs to Support the Sustainability of Vietnam’s HIV/AIDS Response

HANOI, November 3, 2011 -- The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) today announced two five-year programs that will assist government and local partners to implement a sustainable response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in support of Vietnam's national HIV/AIDS strategy.

USAID has awarded a grant to the U.S.-based nongovernmental organization FHI 360 to implement a $45 million program in Vietnam through 2016 that will strengthen sustainable management of the national HIV/AIDS response as donor funding for direct service delivery declines. The objective of the program, funded under the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), is to ensure program areas critical to maintaining the delivery of quality HIV prevention, care and treatment services in the future are robust.

"Vietnam, with support from USAID and other donors, has made impressive gains in addressing HIV," said USAID Mission Director Francis Donovan. "In light of PEPFAR funding reductions, these programs are designed to strengthen the sustainability of the national HIV/AIDS response."

As Vietnamese communities and civil society organizations play an important role in the HIV/AIDS response, USAID awarded a $25 million program to RTI International through 2016 to further strengthen their capacity to work in partnership with the Government of Vietnam on the implementation of the national HIV/AIDS strategy. This program will also work with networks of people living with HIV to help increase their participation in the HIV response at the local, provincial and national levels.

USAID assistance is focused on the prevention of HIV transmission among most-at- risk populations, including injecting drug users and their partners, commercial sex workers, male clients of sex workers, and men who have sex with men. In collaboration with the Government of Vietnam, USAID's HIV efforts are currently implemented in nine provinces: Dien Bien, Hai Phong, Hanoi, Lao Cai, and Quang Ninh in the North; Nghe An in the Central region; and An Giang, Can Tho, and Ho Chi Minh City in the South. In 2011, USAID assistance was $46 million of the $85 million PEPFAR Vietnam budget.

The new program announcements coincide with USAID's global 50th anniversary as an agency delivering development assistance to over 100 countries. Since 2000, USAID has contributed $510 million for development and relief activities in Vietnam.