Hanoi (VNA) - A new project was launched on September 5 to control HIV among young drug users in Vietnam with funding from Expertise France, a Frꦕench a⛎gency for international technical expertise.

The project “Saving the Future – Innovative Strategies to Control HIV Infection among Young people who Use Drugs in Vietnam” was proposed and implemented by the Centre for Supporting Community Development Initiatives (SCDI). The three-year project received funding worth 860,000 EUR (960,900 USD). Khuat Thi Hai Oanh, executive director of SCDI, said that the project would start with a study to understand the background of young drug users and their social connections, the effects produced by drugs, and behaviour that might put them at risk of HIV. This information would help develop intervention strategies. The project will provide funding to community-based organisations to implement intervention programmes effective for young drug users in their locality, she said. The project is planned to work with networks of key populations and 20 community-based organisations in eight provinces and cities to reach at least 8,000 young drug users with services to help them avoid HIV infection. The eight localities include Hai Phong city, Thai Binh, Quang Ninh and Ninh Binh in the north; the central province of Nghe An; and the southern province of Khanh Hoa as well as Hanoi and HCM City. Nghiêm Vu Khai, Deputy President of the Vietnam Union of Sciences and Technology Associations (VUSTA), said, “This is a compliment to a project supported by the Global Fund to address HIV among key populations that is being managed by VUSTA in 15 provinces.” Drug use among young people was a concern for the Party, the National Assembly, the Government as well as society as a whole since it affects the economy, society, health and the next generation, he said. “We hope that this project, besides preventing HIV infection, contributes to reducing harms associated with drug use and to increase social integration of young people,” he said.-VNA