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Vietnam
HIV/AIDS in Vietnam
SMARTWork/Vietnam
Success Stories
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HIV/AIDS in Vietnam
Vietnam's HIV/AIDS epidemic is in its early stages with an infection rate under one percent. As of April 30, 2007 124,223 individuals in Vietnam were living with HIV; 23,611 were living with AIDS, and; 13,469 had died of AIDS. Ss many as 70-80&p of those living with HIV/AIDS are younger than the age of 30.
Other countries have demonstrated that the disease can be contained if efforts are aggressively focused on prevention, care, and support programs. Significant facts include:
- In Vietnam, 95% of the people living with HIV/AIDS are in their most economically productive years between the
ages of 15-49, with ages 20-29 accounting for 55% and ages 10-19 at 8.3%.
- Vietnam's infection rate is just .3%, but it is growing quickly. By 2005, as many as 260,000 individuals are expected to be
living with HIV/AIDS.
- While almost two-thirds (63%) of those living with HIV/AIDS are intravenous drug users (IDUs), experts believe that
more than 80 percent of infections are sexually transmitted
and that the epidemic is spreading to the general population. The Vietnamese HIV/AIDS epidemic is compounded by the country's sizeable migrant workforce, mobile population, growing number of IDUs, and active illegal sex industry. Another factor is increased mobility throughout South East Asia-a region that is home to almost one-quarter of the world's people living with HIV/AIDS.
As a result of Vietnam's hard-won development gains of the past 20 years, the nation is on the brink of becoming a manufacturing and service powerhouse. HIV/AIDS threatens this goal, as the disease has grown explosively since 1997.
Following the discovery of the first HIV/AIDS cases in 1990, the government initiated a number of responses. Bodies that focus on HIV/AIDS include the Ministry of Health's AIDS Division and Preventative Medicine Department; the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs; and the 61 Provincial AIDS Committees. Much of the Ministry of Health's budget is directed at managing infectious diseases and controlling HIV/AIDS. While it has had some successes, such as improving blood screening, HIV infections continue to rise, especially among IDUs.
In 2001, the Ministry of Industry issued a decree requiring all industries under its jurisdiction to implement workplace HIV/AIDS education programs. (However, the lack of funding for this mandate made it difficult to implement.) Mass organizations of the Communist Party of Vietnam have also been active in educating the public—particularly the Women's Union, Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth League, and the General Confederation of Labor.
On June 29, 2006 the XIth National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the 9th session, passed the Law on HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control (add link to entire document). This law partially meets the need for a national policy in Vietnam. SMARTWork’s effort to raise the awareness of employers, provincial level government and trade unions on the provisions of the Law on HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control has been a priority system strengthening activity.
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SMARTWork/Vietnam
The program, implemented by the Academy for Educational Development (AED) with current funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), was launched in Hanoi, Vietnam in January 2003. SMARTWork’s overall goal is to contribute to the reduction of HIV infection in Vietnam through the implementation of HIV/AIDS prevention education, communication and policy implementation with and for government, employers and trade unions. SMARTWork plans to accomplish this by carrying out the following activties:
- Create and implement workplace prevention and education programs to reduce the rate of HIV infection and increase referral to VCT and treatment services.
- Encourage the adoption of workplace policies that ensure protections and guarantee rights of individuals affected and infected by HIV/AIDS.
- Use of IEC and BCC strategies to reduce HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination in the workplace at the enterprise and corporate levels in order to reach workers.
- Facilitate employment support including job placement, for PLHA and other potential MARPS including rehabilitating IDU
- Increase the level of uptake of workplace HIV/AIDS programs by employers, industrial zones and industry-sector representative bodies by documenting and promoting domestic and international enterprise and corporate best practices in the conduct of HIV/AIDS prevention education and policy development in order to strengthen the business response to AIDS.
- Increase awareness and compliance with the Law on HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control by provincial government, trade unions and employers.
- Coordinate HIV/AIDS workplace programs nationally and regionally in order to influence policy and decision making at the national and regional levels
SMARTWork conducts workshops with government, enterprise and trade union personnel in Hanoi and HCMC to reinforce key messages regarding illegal compulsory testing, VCT (as the desired alternative), employment benefits for HIV positive employees, the stipulated need for enterprises under the law to conduct HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness activities, and the rights and responsibilities of PLWHA.
As of September 2006, SMARTWork was the only project in Vietnam working inside rehabilitation centers. In May 2007, SMARTWork began working with Dai Viet Garments in HCMC to integrate and transition IDU from 06 centers into the workforce. SMARTWork conducted a series of workshops and provided technical assistance for managers and employees on integrating former IDU into the enterprise workforce. In September 2007, the project had established a counseling service, provided by the HCMC Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (DOLISA), for rehabilitated employees.
Under the leadership of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the business sector is also a committed tripartite partner which maintains a cadre of 25 master trainers to provide HIV/AIDS focused management training to numerous partner enterprises. The Confederation of Trade Unions, a highly respected agency by both government and business whose primary role is to protect workers, has maintained a strong buy-in on the project, exerting influence on the government and employers to support the SMARTWork program and address HIV/AIDS in the workplace. Additionally, the US Consulate and Ambassador in Vietnam also play role in advocating for transnational buy-in on SMARTWork.
Accomplishments made by SMARTWork in Vietnam include:
- Implementing core workplace prevention education activities in 18 locations.
- Shaping the development of the new national law on HIV/AIDS, along with other relevant agencies, as part of Vietnam’s Policy Project
- Providing technical assistance to core enterprises in 10 provincial locations,
- Building capacity of trade unions, training institutions and government to address HIV/AIDS as a workplace issue.
- Assisting 47 enterprises on the development and implementation of workplace policies that protect the rights of workers, promote access to services, reduce stigma, prevent discrimination, provide guidance on implementing participatory and impart effective prevention measures.
- Providing technical assistance to rehabilitate IDU transitioning to work from 06 (intravenous drug-user) centers.
- Conducting and monitoring trainings at enterprise level.
- Facilitating condom distribution to enterprises.
- Completing policy development tasks and awareness raising activities regarding the Law on HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control.
- Developing the Vietnam Business Coalition (VBCA) on AIDS in association with the Asia-Pacific Business Coalition on AIDS (APBCA).
- Training IEC officers at the enterprise, trade union and government levels
- Completed a detailed project work plan for each province, which has been approved by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs.
- Formed a Tripartite/Multisectoral Advisory Board, which includes members from the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs; the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry; the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor; the Ministry of Health; the Embassy of the United States of America; and AED.
- Made numerous presentations to potential partners and collaborating agencies, including employers, unions, and governmental agencies.
- Completed a country profile and needs assessment that pinpoint areas where issues around HIV/AIDS can be affected.
In the future, SMARTWork/Vietnam will:
- Implement activities in 52 enterprises (24 of which are new this year) in 8 target provinces and cities.
- Build the capacity of government, union and employer partners to address HIV/AIDS prevention as a workplace issue through facilitating workshops that focus on AB and C prevention methods (negotiation of safe sex, delaying sexual relations, maintenance of monogamous relationships, use of condoms, abstinence from drug use, harm reduction methods for IDU), financial and economic impacts of HIV/AIDS, the legal framework for HIV/AIDS, gender and HIV/AIDS, employment and rights, stigma and discrimination, access to and use of VCT and support for PHA employees across eight locations for a total number of 24 government, employer and employee entities.
- Produce and distribute copies of a management guide on HIV/AIDS for employers, unions and government
- Conduct workplace prevention education for enterprise-based training officers in targeted locations to reach an estimated 130,000 indirect targets
- Provide information and communication interventions and produce printed and audio-visual materials for behavior change and uptake of VCT services among working populations in targeted enterprises.
- Provide technical assistance in multiple areas, including:
- access to VCT services for workers (both those supported by the PEPFAR and others);
- in-house communication strategies and activities for prevention and awareness tailored to the needs of individual enterprises;
- condom vending machines in 52 core enterprises;
- regular provision of updated national HIV and AIDS prevalence data for target enterprises;
- information regarding scientific, medical and social advances in prevention to all local partner and enterprise-based trainees trained by SMARTWork
- Work with enterprises, Employment Service Centres and Department of Labour and Health, other USG-supported partners providing care and treatment services and non-formal partners in focus provinces and Dong Nai province to assist PLWHA to obtain regular employment via non-discriminatory employment protocols developed and implemented by provincial Departments of Labour and enterprises.
- Work with MOLISA to produce national workplace policy recommendations for MOLISA, Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Trade.
- Continue work begun in 2007 with the Asia-Pacific Business Coalition on AIDS to establish the Vietnam Business Coalition on AIDS (VBCA) as a stand-alone body for the provision of technical assistance to companies and as the national representational body for Vietnam's HIV/AIDS business response to HIV. Chief activities to be conducted by SMARTWork are:
- support for the registration of VBCA as a legal entity
- recruitment of 3 staff and establishment of office in HCMC
- formal launch of VBCA
- conduct of presentations to business and industry forums and one-on-one meetings with business owners and managers
- develop training materials and marketing of training programs to businesses
- conduct of prevention and awareness training activities at company level
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Success Stories
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Resources
For more information on HIV/AIDS in Vietnam, click here to access the UNAIDS 2004 Vietnam Epidemiological Fact Sheet.
SMARTWork Employee Survey Study: A Summary Report on a Pre/Post Survey Conducted With Employees in One Enterprise in Vietnam
For more information on SMARTWork/Vietnam, contact:
Mr. Patrick Burke, Country Coordinator
SMARTWork/Vietnam
No. 11, Lane 52
Giang Van Minh Street
Ba Dinh
Hanoi
Vietnam
Tel: 884-736-5240
Fax: 884-736-5243
pburke@aed.org
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