A new website that provides continuing medical education in the area of HIV/AIDS for Vietnamese health workers was launched in Hanoi on November 29.

Updating the latest trends in HIV healthcare, the website (the first of its kind in Vietnam) will ensure better service delivery by strengthening the country’s healthcare system and its capacity to effectively counter the spread of HIV.

 Funded by the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in collaboration with Hanoi Medical University and University of Washington, it consists of modules developed by Vietnamese HIV experts. Local physicians and other health workers can access 24-hours a day through video and audio lectures.

Online content in Vietnamese language will cover critical areas such as HIV/TB co-infections, the side effects of antiretroviral treatment, new approaches to HIV testing and counseling needs, as well as looking at case studies of people infected with HIV, with a specific focus on Vietnam.

 “Digital technology is everywhere nowadays. It’s vital that we integrate this kind of technology in Vietnam’s healthcare system, not only in HIV but in other health-related areas. Doctors and others working in HIV can develop their skills in HIV medicine, whether they are in the city or in a remote village”, said Dr. Do Duy Cuong, Director of the HIV Outpatient Clinic at Hanoi-based Bach Mai Hospital.

This website will also help Vietnamese doctors to fill gaps in critical areas of knowledge, skills, behavior related to HIV medicine, and know how the HIV epidemic is behaving in the nation and the best strategies to manage it effectively as well.

Over the past two years, through PEPFAR and CDC, the US has so far committed more than USD10 million to train and support Vietnam’s health workers to combat HIV as well as strengthen health systems./.

CPV