Ha Thi Thu Phan, MD, MPH student, School of Public Health
	HIV and HCV Infections Among Injecting Drug Users in Vietnam
The number of HIV positive cases are increasing at an exponential rate in Vietnam; Injecting Drug Users (IDUs) are partially to blame.  The Ministry of Health reported in 2005, that each day100 individuals were newly infected with HIV.  Drug users were responsible for 72% of all new HIV infections and 25.5% of drug users tested HIV positive.  The Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is even more prevalent than HIV among IDUs because it is so highly transmittable, making it just as much as a threat. Ha Thi Thu Phan, MD, MPH, student at The University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston (UTSPH), has been researching HIV/AIDS for over a decade.  Her latest project “HIV and HCV infections among injecting drug users in Vietnam” earned her the Office of International Programs Award.  The goals of this project are to: estimate the prevalence of HIV, HCV, and HIV-HCV infections among IDUs; describe the injecting drug practices among IDUs and the context in which the IDUs are more likely to engage in the injecting risk behaviors; describe the sexual practices among IDUs and the context in which the IDUs are more likely to engage in the risky sexual behaviors; and examine the factors associated with respondents’ infection.  In June of 2007, Phan flew to Vietnam to get IRB (Institutional Review Board) approval from the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology Human Subject Protection Committee.  Soon after receiving approval from both Hanoi and UT, she began recruiting subjects for her October study.  The cross-sectional study consists of 450 IDUs, ages 18 to 39, who were newly admitted into drug rehabilitation centers located in Ha Tay Province.  Participants were interviewed and blood tested for HIV and HCV.  Technicians from Ha Tay Center for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control took all blood samples and preserved them at the Ha Tay Hospital until time of shipment to UTSPH-Center for International Training and Research (CITAR), where further tests might be run.  Pre and post test counseling was administered to all participants at the time of blood drawing and test result reading.  This process has taken Phan and her team six months.  The team consists of Dr. Lu-Yu Hwang, associate professor of epidemiology and disease control, associate director of CITAR; Dr. Patricia Mullen, professor, training director of health promotion and behavioral sciences; Dr. Mark Williams, professor of behavioral sciences, specializing in addictive behaviors, associate director of CITAR; Dr. Palmer Beasley, professor of epidemiology, director of CITAR, all from The University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston , and from Vietnam, Dr. Long Nguyen, epidemiologist,deputy director of Vietnam Administration for HIV/AIDS Control (VAAC).     Phan used the majority of the Office of International Programs Award to provide incentives to participants of the study.  The remaining funds were spent on laboratory supplies for blood samples, printing cost for questionnaires, airfare, and travel fees.  In February, Phan begins the writing portion of the project.  A completed dissertation with all of her findings will be ready for print in August, 2008. Phan hopes this project will open the door to more collaborations between CITAR of UTSPH and VAAC and encourage Vietnamese students to study at UTHSC-H.