Funds, from both domestic and foreign sources, Vietnam allocates for preventing and battling HIV/AIDS now can meet just 35 percent of demand for the activities, local newspaper Vietnam News reported Friday.

A large part of the funds currently goes for prevention activities, while local people living with HIV/AIDS urgently require access to care, support and treatment, especially retroviral (ARV) therapy, the newspaper quoted Deputy Health Minister Trinh Quan Huan as saying.

The Health Ministry is developing a master plan on HIV/AIDS care, support and treatment, but such difficulties like shortages of funds, proper relevant polices, and technical and professional expertise are negatively affecting care and treatment efforts.

Vietnam plans to provide 70 percent of AIDS patients with ARV treatment by 2010, he said, noting that funding for treatment activities in 2005 accounted for 25 percent of the total budget allocated for the national anti-HIV/AIDS program.

According to statistics released by the ministry, Vietnam detected a total of 12,700 HIV carriers last year. It is estimated that as of early 2006, there had been some 260,000 HIV cases, with 103,000 identified.

Vietnam plans to reduce 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