Top U.S. AIDS adviser visits Vietnam

By Margie Mason
July 9, 2004

HANOI, Vietnam -- The top U.S. AIDS adviser got a firsthand look Friday at Vietnam's swelling HIV problem as he met with government officials and HIV-positive patients in a country where the epidemic threatens to cross over from high-risk groups into the general population.

Global AIDS Coordinator Randall Tobias, on a three-day visit to Hanoi, was hoping to get a clearer picture of the communist country's struggle to keep the disease contained to mostly intravenous drug users and sex workers.

The trip comes after President Bush last month named Vietnam as one of 15 countries eligible for funding from America's $15 billion global AIDS plan. It was the only Asian nation included in the plan and drew criticism from some who expected China or India to be higher on the list because of their much more alarming infection rates.

"Vietnam is a country where the epidemic ... is on the verge of exploding into the general population," Tobias said after touring Bach Mai hospital, the country's leading HIV/AIDS treatment facility.

He said new infections in Vietnam were on pace to increase eightfold to 1 million by 2010, compared to three times and 7.5 times for India and China, respectively. The program will add an additional $10 million this year to the $8 million Vietnam was already receiving from the U.S. government.

Tobias met with Health Minister Tran Thi Trung Chien and was expected to call on Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem during his visit. He will travel Saturday to Bangkok for the 15th International AIDS Conference that begins the following day.

He said the funds would target prevention, treatment and care, but added it has not been determined exactly how the money will be spent.

"I'm very interested in learning more about the strategy that Vietnam has put in place and the specific ways in which the United States government and Vietnam can work together as we all tackle this horrible pandemic that is facing the world," Tobias said.

During his visit, Hanoi on Friday unveiled its first condom vending machine at a popular restaurant and beer garden packed with lunchtime patrons.

The pilot project took some persuasion before it could be implemented in a country where sex is a taboo topic. More than a dozen venues refused to install machines in their men's bathroom because of the negative stigma attached to condoms.

"We want condoms to be treated just like toothpaste or deodorant," said Lin Menuhin, deputy director of not-for-profit condom distributor DKT International, which spearheaded the project.

"A lot of people are still embarrassed about buying condoms, even at the pharmacy. So this takes away the need for a personal transaction."

The red machine stocks OK brand condoms, Vietnam's most popular, that sell for 3 cents apiece.

The government's family-planning committee backed the project and helped convince Lan Chin restaurant owner Le Viet Chin to allow the machine inside her business.

"We are Asian, so we are very shy," she said. "At first I was very reluctant to allow them to place the vending machine here in our restaurant, but ... I decided that I would let them so that I could make a small contribution to the prevention of HIV/AIDS in Vietnam."

DKT hopes to install 20 vending machines in the capital by August and expand the project to other major cities such as Ho Chi Minh City and Haiphong.

Vietnam has recorded a total of 81,206 HIV-positive cases, of which 12,684 have developed full-blown AIDS and 7,208 have died, according to the Ministry of Health. However, health officials believe the actual number of HIV-infected people is closer to 200,000.

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