A meeting was held in Hanoi on November 29 by the Ministry of Health in coordination with the Hanoi People’s Committee in response to a mass media campaign against  HIV/AIDS in Vietnam and World AIDS Day (December 1).

The meeting was attended by State President Nguyen Minh Triet and Deputy Prime Minister who is Chairman of the National Committee for AIDS, Drugs and Prostitution Prevention and Control Truong Vinh Trong.

Deputy PM Truong Vinh Trong called on sectors and localities at all levels to actively participate in the fight against HIV/AIDS by focusing on five major tasks such as intensifying   propaganda activities and social education about HIV/AIDS prevention, increasing HIV/AIDS prevention capacity at grassroots levels and implementing effective prevention measures.

Addressing the meeting, State President Nguyen Minh Triet said HIV/AIDS  is spreading rapidly in Vietnam. He called on people to effectively implement Directive 54 of the Party Central Committee Secretariat on preventing HIV/AIDS and the Law on HIV/AIDS prevention which will come into effect on January 1, 2007.

The President stressed that HIV/AIDS prevention and control should be considered one of priorities for ensuring socio-economic development. It requires a great deal of effort from agencies at all levels, social organizations, individuals and unity among the whole community  to combat the deadly disease. Residents should have regular access to healthcare services so as to avoid infection. More important, people suffering HIV/AIDS should be active in preventing the spread of the disease, Mr Triet said.

In Vietnam, most people living with HIV/AIDS are drug addicts and prostitutes. The disease is likely to spread widely in the community and most likely to infect young people. Therefore, information dissemination should be promoted among young people. Recent statistics show that more than 25 million people in the world have died of the fatal disease. Today, there are over 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS.

Also on the afternoon of November 29, the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front held a conference on HIV/AIDS prevention and control. Participants in the meeting pledged to prevent the disease from becoming a pandemic in Vietnam. They said it is necessary to take practical action to minimize consequences caused by HIV/AIDS. All organizations and individuals should provide assistance to HIV/AIDS patients and launch  anti-discrimination campaigns.