Vietnam and the United States Wednesday signed an action plan on establishing a bilateral partnership to prevent new HIV infections and offer treatment to AIDS patients in Vietnam.

The U.S. Embassy in Hanoi and Vietnam's Ministry of Health said in a joint press release here Wednesday that this partnership is supported by President Bush's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief ( PEPFAR).

Under PEPFAR, the inter-ministerial coordination committee chaired by Ministry of Health and the U.S. PEPFAR team will collaborate with many partners in Vietnam to develop and implement prevention programs targeting population most at risk for infection and establish many services for people affected by HIV/ AIDS.

By 2008, the programs will treat 22,000 HIV carriers with antiretroviral therapies and care for 110,000 people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, said the press release.

According to the statistics recently released by the ministry, Vietnam detected 12,700 HIV carriers in 2005, a slight decrease from 2004. As of early 2006, the number of HIV cases is estimated at 260,000, of whom 103,000 have been identified.

Vietnam plans to slash the HIV/AIDS infection rate among its 83- million population to below 0.3 percent by 2010, and keep it unchanged after 2020.

Source: Xinhua