The World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Vietnam announced projects Monday worth a total of nearly 100 million dollars to fight HIV/AIDS and improve health care in the southern Mekong delta.
The Manila-based ADB granted Vietnam 20 million dollars for a campaign to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS among the nation's youth, including through mass media campaigns and a three-year TV drama series.
The project will seek to "boost access and use of condoms and knowledge of HIV/AIDS among youth and fight dangerous practices such as needle-sharing among drug users," said ADB country director Ayumi Konishi.
The World Bank loaned Vietnam 70 million dollars and granted it five million dollars to support the Mekong Regional Health Project to improve hospital services and spread affordable health insurance in the southern region.
"The project addresses the health and financial risks faced by the poor and near-poor," said World Bank country director Klaus Rohland.
The funds will also pay for better laboratories and an improved surveillance system to help the region "address long-standing and emerging infectious disease threats," said the Washington-based World Bank.
Bird flu has killed 42 people in Vietnam, but the country has reported no new outbreaks since December and no human cases since November, having destroyed more than 50 million birds and vaccinated millions of poultry livestock.
