New website launched for people living with HIV

Hanoi (VNA) - 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.-Enditem