HO CHI MINH CITY, August 5, 2014 – The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) today launched a two-year project that seeks to improve the community response to the HIV epidemic by strengthening the ability of local organizations to reach most at-risk populations and link them with appropriate HIV services.

The “USAID Community HIV Link-Southern” project, implemented in Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho City and An Giang Province by the Centre for Promotion of Quality of Life (LIFE) with funding from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), has a target of delivering effective community-based HIV/AIDS services to a total 4,000 high risk people (injecting drug users, female sex workers and men who have sex with men) and 2,000 people living with HIV.

“Community HIV Link will create an effective approach for HIV case finding and connecting vulnerable populations to health care,” said Ms. Rena Bitter, Consul General. “We are equally confident in the leadership of the Ho Chi Minh City AIDS Committee.  Their expertise and dedication are vital to ensure community organizations complement national, provincial and local HIV strategies.” 

The Community HIV Link project aims to mobilize members of local community-based organizations (CBOs) and promote their greater engagement in HIV service delivery to the most at-risk populations along with improving their institutional and individual capacity. To this end, the project will prioritize and focus local organizations’ efforts to engage higher risk individuals and promote their greater roles in HIV service delivery to these individuals.

USAID began supporting HIV/AIDS programs in Vietnam in the mid-1990s. Together with civil society, non-governmental and mass organizations, such as the Women’s Union, the agency helps to deliver prevention, care and treatment services, and advocate for policies that improve access to and the quality of HIV/AIDS services and strengthen the overall health system.