More than 200 organisations and individuals donated over 3.3 billion VND (157,100 USD) to Hanoi’s support fund for people living with HIV on December 4 as a way to extend their assistance to the target group.

Addressing the fund-raising programme, Vice Chairwoman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc said the city has recorded 21,000 HIV/AIDS sufferers, including over 5,000 AIDS patients and nearly 4,000 deaths, since the first case was detected 21 years ago.

As many as 535 communes and wards across Hanoi have reported HIV cases with 294 out of every 100,000 people got the virus on average, she said, adding that 87.3 percent of the patients are of working age, which is from 20 to 49.

The capital city has undertaken a number of measures to prevent the transmission of the virus and help HIV-infected people integrate into the community, Ngoc noted, while admitting that the incidence of HIV cases has yet been reduced, and a number of the patients are orphans or people without stable jobs and income.

Since its inception four years ago, Hanoi’s support fund for HIV patients has raised more than 8 billion VND (over 380,900 USD) and run an array of practical activities, including two projects providing care for the target group at a cost of 89,000 USD.

At the event, held in coordination with the Hanoi Radio and Television Station, the organisers presented 14 passbooks to people living with HIV.-VNA