U.S. Launches HIV Education Program in Vietnamese Workplaces

On Thursday, the United States launched a $600,000 program to promote HIV/AIDS education in the workplace. "Part of the program is to try to decrease the discrimination and stigma of HIV and AIDS," said Jennifer Bacchus, a representative of the U.S. Department of Labor. Program workers will explain to employers that "just because somebody is HIV-positive, it doesn't mean they cannot work. They need to come up with a way to support them. And that doesn't mean firing them, but helping them get the help they need." In the early 1990s, several workers in Vietnam were fired after testing HIV-positive. Many infections went undetected as a result, because people did not want to be tested for fear of being ostracized. The United States funds similar programs in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and the Ukraine.

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