Obstacles in HIV/AIDS prevention should be removed: Experts
Localities are facing difficulties in implementing policies and legal documents in HIV/AIDS, drugs, and prostitution prevention, heard a workshop in Ho Chi Minh City on March 31.
Vice Chairman of the National Assembly’s Committee for Social Affairs Dang Thuan Phong said there are shortcomings and overlaps in legal documents related to the fight against HIV/AIDS, drugs and prostitution, therefore the involved agencies need to report and propose measures to revise these legal documents.
Pham Duc Manh, Deputy Head of the Department for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control under the Ministry of Health (MoH), said the MoH has advised the government and directly issue legal documents to implement the Law on HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control.
However, some regulations in these legal documents and the law are no longer suitable to the current scientific advancements in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, he said.
Particularly, the regulations on AIDS diagnosis in the final stage, free HIV tests for all pregnant women, and HIV/AIDS prevention in businesses and working places are infeasible, hence they should be changed, Manh suggested.
Delegates also pointed out restrictions in supporting HIV-infected people to buy health insurance as well as funding and human resource shortages that are hindering the fight against the fatal disease.
Phong said the proposals made at the workshop would help the National Assembly’s Committee for Social Affairs revise legal documents in the field.
He asked localities to strictly follow the Government’s directions to ensure the effective implementation of the National Programme on HIV/AIDS, Drugs, and Prostitution Prevention and Control.
The workshop was jointly held by the National Assembly Committee for Social Affairs and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
Vietnam hopes to reduce the number of people with HIV to 0.3 percent by 2020. The country has committed to the global goal of Zero new HIV infections, Zero discrimination, Zero AIDS-related deaths.
Pham Duc Manh, Deputy Head of the Department for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control under the Ministry of Health (MoH), said the MoH has advised the government and directly issue legal documents to implement the Law on HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control.
However, some regulations in these legal documents and the law are no longer suitable to the current scientific advancements in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, he said.
Particularly, the regulations on AIDS diagnosis in the final stage, free HIV tests for all pregnant women, and HIV/AIDS prevention in businesses and working places are infeasible, hence they should be changed, Manh suggested.
Delegates also pointed out restrictions in supporting HIV-infected people to buy health insurance as well as funding and human resource shortages that are hindering the fight against the fatal disease.
Phong said the proposals made at the workshop would help the National Assembly’s Committee for Social Affairs revise legal documents in the field.
He asked localities to strictly follow the Government’s directions to ensure the effective implementation of the National Programme on HIV/AIDS, Drugs, and Prostitution Prevention and Control.
The workshop was jointly held by the National Assembly Committee for Social Affairs and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
Vietnam hopes to reduce the number of people with HIV to 0.3 percent by 2020. The country has committed to the global goal of Zero new HIV infections, Zero discrimination, Zero AIDS-related deaths.