Pepfar to sponsor Vietnamese Aids projects
08/07/2008
Pepfar, the US President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief, has allocated $1.4 million (£710,000) for Aids initiatives in Vietnam.
The funding vehicle will donate the money to three HIV/Aids initiatives in the south-east Asian nation, according a press release issued by the US Embassy.
One of those programmes - the HIV Care Local Partnership Initiative - will assist four separate projects in the northern localities of Quang Ninh Province and Hai Phong City, as well the central Nghe An Province.
The second initiative to be helped by the Pepfar funding package is being run by an international humanitarian organisation and will focus on rolling out educational awareness to secondary school students.
That scheme will run until September 2010 in Ho Chi Minh City, Quang Ninh and Quang Tri provinces.
Finally, the last major beneficiary of the donation will be an umbrella network of organisations whose primary aim is to improve services for HIV-positive girls and women living across Vietnam.
A coalition of organisations will be involved in overseeing the spending of the funds, including America's Centre for Community Health and Development and the Development Centre for Promotion of Quality of Life.
Pepfar was launched in 2003 and initially involved a $15 billion, five-year pledge to enhance Aids services in 15 focus countries.
Since then, President George W Bush has outlined plans to boost the next round of funding to $50 billion, expanding its focal point beyond sub-Saharan African and into the Caribbean and south-east Asia.
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