A pretest-posttest design to assess the effectiveness of an intervention to reduce HIV-related stigma and discrimination in healthcare settings in Vietnam.

Introduction: Stigma and discrimination are important barriers to HIV epidemic control. We implemented a multi-pronged facility-level intervention to reduce stigma and discrimination at health facilities across three high-burden provinces. Key components of the intervention included measurement of stigma, data review and use, participatory training of healthcare workers (HCWs), and engagement of people living with HIV and key populations in all stigma reduction activities.

Building HIV healthcare worker capacity through telehealth in Vietnam.

Development of a robust technical assistance system is an essential component of a sustainable HIV response. Vietnam's National HIV Program is transitioning from a largely donor-funded programme to one primarily supported by domestic resources. Telehealth interventions are increasingly being used for training, mentoring and expert consultation in high-resource settings and hold significant potential for use as a tool to build HIV health worker capacity in low and middle-income countries.

Durability and outcome of initial antiretroviral treatments received during 2000--2005 by patients in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study.

Background: Little is known about time trends, predictors, and consequences of changes made to antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens early after patients initially start treatment.

Methods: We compared the incidence of, reasons for, and predictors of treatment change within 1 year after starting combination ART (cART), as well as virological and immunological outcomes at 1 year, among 1866 patients from the Swiss HIV Cohort Study who initiated cART during 2000--2001, 2002--2003, or 2004--2005.

Results: The durability of initial regimens did not improve over time (P = .

Sexually transmitted infections in female sex workers in five border provinces of Vietnam.

Background: Although high prevalences of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have been reported among female sex workers (FSWs) in some countries of Asia, there is little data about this issue in Vietnam.

Goal: The goal of this study was to determine 1) the prevalence of selected STIs and correlates of chlamydia or gonococcal infection, and 2) contraceptive practices, STI-related symptoms, and healthcare-seeking behavior in FSWs in border provinces of Vietnam.

Methods: Nine hundred eleven FSWs in five border provinces of Vietnam (Lai Chau, Quang Tri, Dong Thap, An Giang, and Kien Giang) were enrolled in a cross-sectional study between December 2002 and January 2003.