HANOI, Dec 1 (AFP) - More than 2,000 people took to the streets of the Vietnamese capital Sunday to mark World AIDS Day and to call for an end to discrimination against HIV/AIDS sufferers.
In a state-sanctioned event led by Vice President Truong My Hoa, the marchers circled Hanoi's Hoam Kiem lake carrying banners saying "Be friends with HIV carriers" and "Don't shun AIDS victims".
Many of those taking part were soldiers and students. AIDS activists carrying large, symbolic red ribbons handed out condoms and leaflets to onlookers detailing how to prevent HIV transmission.
Before the march began, Hoa urged people to treat those infected with the killer virus as human beings rather than social outcasts.
Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem also warned the assembled crowd that although HIV/AIDS was heavily associated with the "social evils of prostitution and drug addicts" it was spreading through the community.
Unless checked it would derail communist-ruled Vietnam's social and economic development, he said echoing repeated warnings by the World Health Organisation.
International health experts have long criticised Hanoi for focusing on HIV/AIDS as an affliction affecting "social evils", rather than raising awareness about the deadly disease among the wider population.
Government figures show that 56,495 people were HIV positive by the end October. Of the total figure, 8,451 had developed full-blown AIDS and 4,649 had died from the disease.
However, experts say that the true number of those infected with the virus is at least 200,000, under-reported due to limited testing facilities and a reluctance to admit the full extent of the epidemic.
021201
AF021202
Copyright © AFP or Agence France-Presse, 2002 - All Rights Reserved. AFP articles contained on the AEGiS web site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without AFP's prior written permission. You may make one copy of each article for your personal, non-commercial use only; more copies would require AFP's prior written permission.. http://www.afp.com/
AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, the National Library of Medicine, and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2002. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
©1990, 2002 - AEGiS. AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content.
