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Oct 18, 9:54 AM EDT
U.N.: AIDS Stigma in Vietnam Among Worst
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) -- Stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS in Vietnam is among the worst in the world and must be overcome to control the epidemic, a top United Nations official said Monday.
After visiting Ho Chi Minh City, Haiphong and Hanoi, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director Kathleen Cravero said if Vietnam does not reverse the way people think about the disease, it could block attempts to help those infected with the virus.
"I've visited over 50 countries and the problem of stigma and discrimination is as great or greater in Vietnam than in any country I've visited," she said. "If people fear stigma and discrimination ... they won't seek testing, they won't seek services, they won't seek any help at all. It will drive the epidemic underground."
HIV/AIDS often gets lumped in with Vietnam's so-called "social evils" policy, which also includes drug use and prostitution. International aid workers have pushed for the government to stop using the term as one way to lessen the stigma.
Cravero said there's still time to fix the problem, and she applauded Vietnam's comprehensive national strategy as a method of handling the epidemic. The plan is a long-term approach to dealing with the epidemic, including prevention and care.
But she stressed the importance of implementing it quickly and said people living with the disease must take a leading role alongside high-ranking government leaders and organizations.
"All too often we have national strategies in countries that end up on shelves as very readable documents that don't mean very much on the ground," she said. "Now is the time - in the coming months and the next two years - that Vietnam must take this excellent strategy and make it real for the people of Vietnam from the very north to the very south."
She also encouraged the Communist government to create a national AIDS council with enough political clout to force more people to become actively involved in attacking the problem.
Vietnam's infections have largely been contained to high-risk groups such as intravenous drug users and sex workers, but if left unchecked that rate is on pace to increase eightfold to 1 million by 2010.
Vietnam was one of the 15 countries recently selected to receive emergency funding from the United States' US$15 billion global AIDS plan to try to prevent the epidemic from taking off in the general population.
Vietnam has recorded more than 80,000 HIV-positive cases, of which nearly 13,000 have developed full-blown AIDS and more than 7,000 have died, according to the Ministry of Health. However, health officials believe the actual number of HIV-infected people is closer to 200,000.
© 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
U.N.: AIDS Stigma in Vietnam Among Worst
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) -- Stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS in Vietnam is among the worst in the world and must be overcome to control the epidemic, a top United Nations official said Monday.
After visiting Ho Chi Minh City, Haiphong and Hanoi, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director Kathleen Cravero said if Vietnam does not reverse the way people think about the disease, it could block attempts to help those infected with the virus.
"I've visited over 50 countries and the problem of stigma and discrimination is as great or greater in Vietnam than in any country I've visited," she said. "If people fear stigma and discrimination ... they won't seek testing, they won't seek services, they won't seek any help at all. It will drive the epidemic underground."
HIV/AIDS often gets lumped in with Vietnam's so-called "social evils" policy, which also includes drug use and prostitution. International aid workers have pushed for the government to stop using the term as one way to lessen the stigma.
Cravero said there's still time to fix the problem, and she applauded Vietnam's comprehensive national strategy as a method of handling the epidemic. The plan is a long-term approach to dealing with the epidemic, including prevention and care.
But she stressed the importance of implementing it quickly and said people living with the disease must take a leading role alongside high-ranking government leaders and organizations.
"All too often we have national strategies in countries that end up on shelves as very readable documents that don't mean very much on the ground," she said. "Now is the time - in the coming months and the next two years - that Vietnam must take this excellent strategy and make it real for the people of Vietnam from the very north to the very south."
She also encouraged the Communist government to create a national AIDS council with enough political clout to force more people to become actively involved in attacking the problem.
Vietnam's infections have largely been contained to high-risk groups such as intravenous drug users and sex workers, but if left unchecked that rate is on pace to increase eightfold to 1 million by 2010.
Vietnam was one of the 15 countries recently selected to receive emergency funding from the United States' US$15 billion global AIDS plan to try to prevent the epidemic from taking off in the general population.
Vietnam has recorded more than 80,000 HIV-positive cases, of which nearly 13,000 have developed full-blown AIDS and more than 7,000 have died, according to the Ministry of Health. However, health officials believe the actual number of HIV-infected people is closer to 200,000.
© 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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ein investment, was ich liegen lasse und ab und zu mal schaue. hatte ich irgendwann schon geschrieben. die kohle ist für mich abgeschrieben und wenn die aufträge kommen, dann prost. um kurzfristig kohle zu machen, gibt es momentan bessere möglichkeiten. bei caly tut sich ohne aufträge nichts. ;O) 
