Presented by: Dương Thị Hương, MD, PhD
Presentation title: DRug and Viral Infection in ViEtnam: Ending HIV Epidemic Among People Who Inject Drug in Hai Phong, Viet Nam
Dương Thị Hương is Associate Professor, Senior Lecturer, and Formal Dean of Faculty of Public Health at the Hai Phong University of Medicine and Pharmacy. Dr. Huong has had numerous projects funded by the French National Research Agency for AIDS Research (ANRS) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse focused on HIV, HCV, and related infections in people who inject drugs (PWID).
Drug Use & Infections in Vietnam (DRIVE) aimed to end the HIV epidemic among people who inject drugs in Hai Phong, Vietnam (NIDA R01DA041978/ANRS 12353) and ran from 2016 to 2021. DRIVE has been a foundation for several subsequent initiatives, including DRIVE-C (Drug Use & Infections in Vietnam – Hepatitis C) (ANRS 12380), which focused on HCV elimination; DRIVE-MIND Mental Health Intervention for Injecting Drug Users, (ANRS 12410); DRIVE-COVID (ANRS COV22), which evaluated the impact of lockdown measures on HIV and HCV risk behaviors and access to prevention and care during the COVID-19 epidemic for PWID in Hai Phong; and DRIVE-TB Tuberculosis Control, (ANRS 0092, co-funded by NIDA, ANRS|MIE, and L’initiative-Expertise France), aimed at tuberculosis elimination among PWIDs. These projects have resulted in publications in over 20 international journals. The Community HIV Epidemiological Evaluation and Response (CHEER) program has utilized the DRIVE model to evaluate the HIV epidemic in other provinces.