Over 7 million clean syringes have been provided to drug users during the first five months of this year, 21 per cent more than the same period last year, said HIV/AIDS prevention project officials.
The campaign which was launched at the beginning of this year is a part of a HIV/AIDS prevention project sponsored by the World Bank. Clean syringes were widely distributed to drug users in 20 provinces across the country.
With that amount of syringes distributed this year, drug users are receiving an average of 40 clean syringes a month, higher than the original target of 30 syringes per month.
In the first five months of 2009, project officers were able to distribute clean syringes to 6 million drug users.
About 3.5 million condoms were also provided to prostitutes, with a prostitute on average receiving 25 free condoms a month, far below the project target of 60 per person.
At the meeting to review the project's process in Hoi An on Monday, Deputy Minister of Health Trinh Quan Huan said the local authorities had made a great contribution in the work. He urged several provinces to begin surveying people's health and behaviour related to HIV. The project management board should also report on the project budget and begin to plan for new initiatives.
At the meeting, the board also agreed a plan to incorporate another 12 provinces into the project, bringing the number of participating provinces to 32.
Source: VNS