Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong has recently paid a visit to France to learn from their policies and experiences on how to effectively prevent the spreads of HIV/AIDS.

During the visit from April 24-30, Deputy PM Trong met with Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin and the heads of French and international organisations such as the Pasteur Institute, UNAIDS and ESTHER.

They discussed a number of cooperation projects between Vietnam and France, especially in the care and treatment of HIV/AIDS patients and the production of Methadone, which is used in drug detoxification programmes.

According to Deputy PM Trong, France wants to boost scientific links with Vietnam by transferring and applying current technologies and will continue to provide Vietnam with financial aid to invest in projects to control HIV/AIDS in Vietnam.

Both countries have a long history of working together in health care matters, but more recently have focused on HIV/AIDS control.

Since 1988, France has helped Vietnam to test for the virus and research its manifestations. In 1990, Vietnam discovered its first case of HIV by a blood test and ever since then France has continued to support Vietnam in research and the care of HIV/AIDS patients.

Both countries are working together to research the production of Methadone and search for an effective way of treating drug users.

The Deputy PM confirmed that the two countries will continue to expand ties by increasing the exchange of specialists, transferring technologies and training medics and technicians for universities and hospitals in the near future./.