The six-day trip introduced print and broadcast journalists to successful interventions...

“Learning about Thailand’s experiences made us realize that there are many things we can do and need to do if we want to speed up the progress in HIV prevention in our country,” said one of seven Vietnamese journalists who joined the Internews study tour.

The trip, a collaboration between Internews, the Vietnam Administration of HIV/AIDS Control (VAAC), and the Ministry for Information and Culture (MoIC), introduced the journalists to interventions in Thailand that could serve as useful examples in their own country. Vietnam has recently launched a national two-year pilot program on methadone treatment and a highlight of the tour included an examination of Thailand’s successes and challenges in this area.

The journalists met with officials and medical staff at a government drug rehabilitation clinic and a local public hospital, and with NGO staff working with current and former IDUs, to discuss the pros and cons of methadone treatment. They also visited a drop-in center for one-on-one interviews with members there.

Another trip highlight was a meeting with former senator and Thailand’s leading social and HIV and AIDS activist, Jon Ungpakorn, whose pioneering work on the rights of PLHIV helped achieve the introduction of legislation and special medical services for them.

A micro-credit project called the Positive Partnership Program (PPP), under which one HIV-positive person pairs up with another HIV-negative person to get a small loan for a joint business, also generated great enthusiasm from the participants.

The PPP program was initiated by Mechai Viravaidya, 67, founder and chairman of the Population and Community Development Association (PDA), Thailand’s biggest non-profit organization. In 2007, the agency received a $1-million Gates award for Global Health for its outstanding work in family planning and HIV/AIDS prevention.

“It was very, very impressive. I think we need to implement a lot of PPPs in Vietnam. It was amazing to see the changes in people’s lives after they took the loan. I really want to write about them,” a radio journalist said.

The tour was a significant eye-opener for the Vietnamese media, in light of the Vietnamese government’s promulgation of a new “AIDS law” on preventive and discrimination-reducing measures in 2006.

In an effort to reduce fear and discrimination around HIV, the Vietnamese media have gradually been able to cover more stories on sensitive or taboo issues (sex-work, drug use, and other sexual behaviours) since the new policy has come into effect.

According to the participants, face-to-face meetings with PLHIV was the most interesting part of the trip. They saw the PPP micro-credit program as a possible model for Vietnam’s efforts to help PLHIV stand on their own feet and regain their dignity.

According to Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Culture, the journalists have so far produced 24 stories, of which 17 have already been published. The stories ranged from a long series to in-depth analytical pieces and radio/TV packages that took a “human face” approach.

The journalists focused on topics such as Thailand’s successes on condom use, and PLHIV rights campaigns that helped result in faster progress in HIV prevention and, treatment and medical services, according to a Vietnamese ministry spokesman..

By learning about Thailand’s fight against HIV/AIDS, audiences in Vietnam will learn that in order to solve HIV-related problems, they have to learn to understand HIV and accept PLHIV without discrimination and stigma, he added.

Internews’ Turnaround Time project assists Mekong region journalists to strengthen and increase their reportage on HIV/AIDS, through workshops that encourage active participation and focus on practical approaches. The project also provides post-training support and mentoring to journalists working on stories for publication or broadcast.

The program is supported by the UK Department for International Development (DFID).