UN Commends Viet Nam for Launching a National Month of Action on HIV

16 Nov 2008 – On behalf of the international community, the United Nations lauds the Government of Viet Nam for its strong leadership in responding to HIV and launching The National Month of Action for HIV/AIDS control and prevention.

At a campaign launch event on Sunday the 16th November, Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong, who is also Chairman of the National Committee on AIDS, Drugs and Prostitution Prevention and Control, called upon the Vietnamese people to launch a grassroots, community-based response to the challenge of HIV. The call echoed the global theme for this year’s World AIDS Campaign and emphasized the significance of strong leadership at all levels and in all sectors.

“As shown in Viet Nam and internationally, most effective leadership begins at the grassroots and pushes up. Journalists, healthcare workers, teachers and policemen are all key components of an effective response to HIV. People living with HIV themselves have the insight to make interventions more effective. It shows great leadership from the government to choose grassroots action as the focus of the campaign this year,” says UNAIDS Viet Nam Country Director and the Chair of the Joint UN Team on HIV, Mr Eamonn Murphy.

The month-long campaign runs from 10 November to 10 December and entails activities and events ranging from workshops to TV-galas. The campaign month takes place around the World AIDS Day, commemorated each year on 1 December.
For further information, please contact:

Ludo Bok, Partnerships Adviser UNAIDS Viet Nam
bokl@unaids.org
+ 84-4 3734 2824

Nguyen Thi Phuong Mai, Senior Programme Officer, UNAIDS Viet Nam
nguyenm@unaids.org
+84-4 3734 2824, mob: (84) 91 21 40 645