55 contents of HIV/AIDS prevention project completed

Photo: St

    This year was the second year of the project. In spite of its difficulties and obstacles, the project still contributed to minimize the effects of HIV/AIDS infection in the provincial area, and initially have significant changes. Since the beginning of January, 2007, the Project Management Board at the provincial level established 12 collaborators at districts, 3 clubs at 3 companies of DonaFood, Dong Tien Garment and Fujitsu, 12 consultants, and 8 testers, etc. Additionally, the Project Management Board assigned 4 districts to choose 69 collaborators at wards and communes, 20 collaborators in the field of media, etc. On the basis of human resources, the project’s programs were deployed synchronously.

    The program on behavior change through media education was organized with 15 main contents as follows: conferences or talks on HIV/AIDS prevention; printing and issuing multi-media HIV/AIDS information materials; 10 performances associated with mass media activities and fighting   discrimination against HIV-infected people; presenting films from place to place and so on.

    The intervention program minimizing the harmful effects of HIV infection were plentiful and diversified with 21 main contents as follows: distributing injection needles to more than 1000 people, providing over 2000 condoms as well as equip medicines and testing tools, instructing and training collaborators, especially ones at districts in AIDS knowledge popularization activities and caring for HIV/AIDS patients, etc. As a result, many localities carried out the program rather well. Typically, Long Khanh town collaborated with special sectors such as public security, for example, assigning tasks and implementation targets to collaborators for supervising the grassroots levels, and consultancy work before and after blood test results was carried out methodically.

    Other programs: caring and treatment of opportunistic infection in Trang Bom district and Centre 05-06, supervising and evaluating HIV/AIDS infection, management and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, enhancing capacity of cadres and international cooperation, etc. All were deployed synchronously.

    It can be said that by November 30, 2007, 55 main contents has been completed, and the intervention program minimizing the harmful effects approached the target population. The project was carried out in cooperation with relevant sectors, and it was also implemented rather synchronously at 3 levels including districts, wards and communes. Clubs of HIV/AIDS prevention were established and operated effectively, especially Donafood Club.

    However, HIV infection rate in Dong Nai province is still relatively high, ranking the sixth in the whole nation. By October 30, 2007, 6,628 people were infected with HIV, among which 1,157 HIV-infected people outside the province, 1,105 people entering the final stage of HIV disease (AIDS) and 513 deaths. HIV/ AIDS disease has been present at wards and communes in the province. HIV/AIDS is the great epidemic of the world without treatment method now. Therefore, the most important thing is that knowledge popularization activities must be carried out to restrict the transmission of this epidemic as well as share and sympathize with HIV-infected people. It is necessary to pay attention to the cooperation among levels, sectors and the whole society. The Project Management Board said that in 2008, it will strive to reduce HIV infection rate in community to below 0.3% by 2010 and with no further increase then, making contribution to minimize influence of HIV/AIDS epidemic in the fields of economy and society.

    Reported by Thuy Lien, Translated by THKC