PEPFAR to Fund No-Cost Antiretroviral Access Program at Vietnamese Hospital

The U.S. Embassy in Vietnam on Tuesday announced that a military hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam, will begin a program this week that provides HIV-positive people with access to no-cost antiretroviral drugs through President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief funding, VNA/Vietnam Net Bridge reports. The military hospital is the first in the country to receive PEPFAR funding for its efforts to improve treatment for HIV/AIDS in the Vietnamese Defense Ministry's health care network, which collaborates with the U.S. Department of Defense. The treatment program is part of a nationwide HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment program funded by PEPFAR (VNA/Vietnam Net Bridge, 1/24). According to the Vietnam News Brief Service, PEPFAR funding in Vietnam will increase to $59 million this year, up from $34 million in 2006 (Vietnam News Brief Service, 1/24). President Bush in June 2004 announced Vietnam's eligibility for PEPFAR funding, making it the only country outside Africa and the Caribbean eligible for such funds. PEFPAR is a five-year, $15 billion program that directs funding for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria to 15 focus countries (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 6/23/04).

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