Press Release

July 18, 2006

Military Hospital Gets Upgrade to Improve Blood Safety

HANOI – Renovations for the blood center at the Military Hospital 103 of the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) begin this week. 

The overhaul is crucial to increasing production capacity at the center to help meet the demand for safe blood within the military medical system.  Military Hospital 103’s blood center, which stores blood and serves as a site for transfusions, serves all the Hanoi-area military hospitals.  In addition to the renovations, a service outlet for voluntary counseling and testing will be constructed adjacent to the center. 

The upgrade is part of a country-wide HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment program funded by the United States’ President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).  A portion of the PEPFAR funds are earmarked for the Military Medical Department of the VPA, working in collaboration with the U.S. Pacific Command and it executing agency the Center of Excellence in Disaster Management & Humanitarian Assistance (Honolulu, Hawaii).  The military program also sponsors workshops for practitioners focusing on advocacy, counseling, and laboratory techniques to combat HIV/AIDS.

The PEPFAR is supporting improvement to two blood transfusion centers in the VPA's military medical system.  Renovations at the second blood transfusion site are anticipated to begin later this year at Military Hospital 175 in Ho Chi Minh City.  Other enhancements to the VPA’s blood safety program as part of PEPFAR include expansion of laboratory capacity to screen all donated blood for HIV, and promotion of voluntary blood donation among low-risk populations.  This is the first international collaboration focused on augmenting the VPA’s blood safety system.

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The Center of Excellence in Disaster Management & Humanitarian Assistance promotes effective civil-military management in international humanitarian assistance, disaster response, and peacekeeping through education, training, research, and information programs.  The Center works domestically and internationally with civilian and military personnel alike, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.

Contact:
Elise Leroux, Public Relations Manager
Center of Excellence
808-433-1433
Elise.Leroux@coe-dmha.org