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There are no known travel restrictions or requirements attached to any STI, including HIV, in Vietnam. For foreigners seeking work, especially teaching, there are some reports of schools asking for health checks. However, health checks are not required by authorities in order to receive a work permit. | There are no known travel restrictions or requirements attached to any STI, including HIV, in Vietnam. For foreigners seeking work, especially teaching, there are some reports of schools asking for health checks. However, health checks are not required by authorities in order to receive a work permit. | ||
In 2002, a study of 400 female sex workers (FSW) in Hanoi found that 12% were HIV+ and 17% were infected syphilis, 3.8% with chlamydia and 6.3% with gonorrhea. The study concluded: "Vietnam is in a critical period. HIV is spreading rapidly among the risk groups, but the country can prevent a widespread epidemic if it acts quickly. The country must take the opportunity to act wisely and to make sound decisions. Strategies to reduce HIV in FSWs should include reduction of stigmatization, reduction of sharing drug paraphernalia, promotion of nonstigmatizing voluntary counseling and testing, and aggressive marketing and promotion of condoms. To achieve these goals, the government should adopt a multisectoral response that includes other government agencies, nongovernment organizations, and the vulnerable populations."<ref>[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2908502/ HIV Infection and Risk Characteristics Among Female Sex Workers in Hanoi, Vietnam]</ref> | While Vietnam had no reported cases of HIV in the 1980s, HIV rates began to raise in the 1990s. In 2002, a study of 400 female sex workers (FSW) in Hanoi found that 12% were HIV+ and 17% were infected syphilis, 3.8% with chlamydia and 6.3% with gonorrhea. The study concluded: "Vietnam is in a critical period. HIV is spreading rapidly among the risk groups, but the country can prevent a widespread epidemic if it acts quickly. The country must take the opportunity to act wisely and to make sound decisions. Strategies to reduce HIV in FSWs should include reduction of stigmatization, reduction of sharing drug paraphernalia, promotion of nonstigmatizing voluntary counseling and testing, and aggressive marketing and promotion of condoms. To achieve these goals, the government should adopt a multisectoral response that includes other government agencies, nongovernment organizations, and the vulnerable populations."<ref>[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2908502/ HIV Infection and Risk Characteristics Among Female Sex Workers in Hanoi, Vietnam]</ref> | ||
For people living with HIV in Vietnam, lack of government funding and social stigma are harsh realities. The majority of HIV/AIDS program funding (70%) comes from international organizations with only about 13% coming from the Vietnamese government. There is also a shortage of health workers with only 1300 in 2011. And there is also social stigma. "Social stigma against HIV/AIDS patients presents a major obstacle to contain HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS patients are treated unequally in the hospitals and denied employment. Children with HIV are not welcomed in school. In 2009, parents in Ho Chi Minh City forced officials to expel children with HIV.[9] Discrimination thus discourages people to go for screening or to take medication in fear of revealing their HIV status."<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV/AIDS_in_Vietnam HIV/AIDS in Vietnam]</ref> | |||
===What to Get & Where to Get It=== | ===What to Get & Where to Get It=== |
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