Domestic and foreign participants at a workshop in Ho Chi Minh City on May 12 agreed that Vietnam needs to increase budgets for programmes to fight HIV/AIDS.

Participants also agreed that the Health Ministry should submit the HIV/AIDS national target programme and strategy until 2020 and the vision to 2030 to the National Assembly soon.

Truong Thi Mai, Head of the National Assembly’s Committee for Social Affairs said the NA would have a decision on resources for HIV/AIDS control in the second session of the 13 th tenure, slated for October this year.

At present, HIV/AIDS control in Vietnam is meeting many difficulties, especially funding and human resources.

Over the past five years, financial sources met only 50 percent of the demand and were not sustainable, as over 70 percent came from international organisations and only 13 percent was from the State budget. Meanwhile, human resources for the works experienced shortages in provincial and district areas.

According to the Health Ministry’s Department for HIV/AIDS Control, by the end of 2010, the number of HIV carriers in Vietnam was 184,000. The figure was forecast to hit 300,000 by 2015 with an average of 15,000 new cases per year./.