PRESS RELEASE

May 19, 2008

United States Opens New HIV/AIDS Program Office in Hanoi

HANOI, Vietnam (May 19, 2008) – The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has opened its first office in Vietnam for the President’s Emergency Program for the AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the multi-billion dollar program that is assisting more than 1 million people in 15 focus countries worldwide.

The DoD’s PEPFAR military-to-military program in Vietnam assists the military with the education, prevention, treatment and care of HIV/AIDs among its personnel. As a result of the program, Military Hospital 103 of the Vietnam’s People’s Army and the Military Institute for Hygiene and Epidemiology in Hanoi have a full array of antiretroviral therapy (ARV) programs and a complete range of related laboratory services. Currently, Military Hospital 17 in Danang and Military Hospital 121 in Can Tho are being outfitted with laboratory equipment for the diagnosis and treatment of HIV/AIDS. Next month, the ARV program at Military Hospital 175 in Ho Chi Minh City is expected to begin services.

The Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance (COE), based in Hawaii has been executing the DoD’s HIV/AIDS initiatives in the Asia-Pacific region since 2002. Its Vietnam efforts represent COE’s largest Medical and Public Health Unit program.  Combined PEPFAR programs in Vietnam total U.S. $88 Mission this year.

PEPFAR focuses on assisting host nations in the treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS, and tailors its programs to the unique local cultural and social environments. In April 2008, the U.S. Congress approved President George W. Bush’s reauthorization of the program, providing an additional US$50 billion over the next five-year period until 2013.

Contact: Diep Duong at diep.duong@coe-dmha.org or call +84 4 850 5000 ext 6012 [Vietnam]

###