PRESS RELEASE

April 29, 2008

United States Provides New Services to Fight Drug Addiction

HANOI (April 29) – U.S. and Vietnamese officials opened Vietnam’s first methadone clinic today in Hai Phong, a large port city where half of heroin injectors are living with HIV. Dr. Mark Dybul, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator for the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program congratulated the Government of Viet Nam for "initiating the Methadone therapy program, which has the promise of reducing the dependency for those addicted to drugs."

Through these new clinics in Hai Phong and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnamese addicts will get their first real chance to break the cycle of addiction within their communities. Drug addiction has cost too many Vietnamese their health, their families, and their lives. Now there is a new cost-effective community-based service made available through the PEPFAR program and other donors, by the Government of Viet Nam

Approximately 1,500 people addicted to drugs will benefit from this new Methadone Pilot Program and the results of this program will guide future efforts to expand this new service to other communities in Vietnam. The U.S. Government, along with the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, World Bank, and many other groups have supported the Government of Viet Nam in the planning, development, and implementation of this very important initiative.

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