With support from the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a training course is being held this week at the Hanoi-based Military Hospital 103 for 30 nurses from military and civilian medical institutions.

The four-day training focuses o­n health assessment, with instruction by Associate Professor Benita Jeanne Walton-Moss of Johns Hopkins University. Vietnamese nurses will combine theory and hands-on experience to maximize the impact of the training.


This course is part of the collaboration between the US Department of Defense and Vietnam’s Military Medicine Department - Ministry of Defense under PEPFAR. According to Senior Colonel Dr. Vu Quoc Binh, Deputy Director of the Military Medicine Department, this training is the first of its type and is laying the foundation for a new technical area of medical collaboration between the two militaries.


Also with PEPFAR support, the Harvard Medical School AIDS Initiative in Vietnam will provide training to over 30 medical doctors from northern military hospitals this week about preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission and tuberculosis/HIV co-infection. A similar training will be held in Ho Chi Minh City later this month for southern military hospitals.


In the next five years, PEPFAR will continue to support the military medical system of Vietnam with many pre-service training activities, including nursing, as part of collaborative programming in blood safety; infection control; HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment; and health systems strengthening.