US embassy cable - 05HOCHIMINHCITY1152

UNCLAS HO CHI MINH CITY 001152 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, SNAR, PREL, SOCI, PHUM, KIRF, VM, RELFREE, HIV/AIDS, HUMANR 
SUBJECT: HCMC CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE PUSHES FOR GREATER ROLE IN 
HIV/AIDS FIGHT 
 
REF:  A) HCMC 984; B) HCMC 398 
 
1. (SBU) From October 27 to 29, the HCMC Archdiocese hosted an 
international workshop on strategies to care for people living 
with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA).  The declared goal of the workshop was to 
develop a concrete action plan for the Church on HIV/AIDS in HCMC. 
The unwritten subtext was an effort to press -- and even shame -- 
HCMC authorities into giving the Archdiocese more latitude to 
conduct HIV/AIDS activities.  (Per reftels, the Archdiocese has 
become increasingly frustrated with lack of local government 
cooperation in administering the HIV/AIDS clinic in the Trong Diem 
drug rehabilitation center and in approving new community-based 
HIV/AIDS initiatives.) 
 
2. (SBU) Local government and Party representation at the workshop 
was strong.  Representatives from the HCMC Fatherland Front, 
HCMC's HIV/AIDS Committee, Department of Labor, War Invalids and 
Social Affairs (DOLISA), and the Orphan Protection Organization 
attended, as did a number of overseas Catholic NGOS, including 
Caritas Germany and Norway and Catholic Relief Services.  A 
representative of Japanese Consulate also attended. 
 
3. (SBU) In his opening speech, Cardinal Pham Minh Man, Archbishop 
of HCMC, emphasized the Church's desire to broaden its cooperation 
with local government to combat HIV/AIDS.  He introduced the 
Church's newest initiative: to set up an integrated and holistic 
center run by the Church for PLWHA in HCMC.  The Center, if and 
when established, will house HIV infected children, provide all 
PLWHA with support in health care, education, vocational training, 
employment, psycho-spiritual care and other cultural activities to 
enable them continue a constructive life.  He called on local 
government to support and facilitate the program. 
 
4. (SBU) Group discussion, particularly on the level of government 
support for the Church's activities, was frank and often heated. 
For example, Sister To Nga, responsible for the Church's flagship 
program supporting an AIDS clinic at DOLISA-run Trong Diem drug 
rehabilitation center, expressed her grave disappointment over the 
lack of cooperation with the Center's administrators and the 
difficult conditions under which the Church team had to operate. 
She complained that "we could do much more to help than what we 
are allowed."  She protested that the center would not allow 
patients to die "in the caring hands of the sisters at the 
clinic," but mandated their transfer to local hospitals. 
 
5. (SBU) The immediate response from the official representatives 
was positive.  Tran Trung Tin, Vice Director of HCMC Fatherland 
Front Committee, praised the contributions of the Church and the 
Buddhists in the city's combat with the pandemic.  The DOLISA 
representative acknowledged that "nobody could care for dying 
people better than religious workers".  Dr. Lan Thao, of the HCMC 
HIV/AIDS Committee, said that the HIV/AIDS Committee fully 
supports the Church's initiative on the integrated center. 
Responding to heated questions from some of the participants on 
the problems the Church faced in its HIV/AIDS work, Thao asserted 
that the Committee is preparing a new regulation for HCMC 
government that will provide detailed guidelines to local 
administrators and NGOs on HIV/AIDS prevention activities.  Thao 
emphasized that, with an estimated 263,000 PLWHA nationwide -- and 
500 newly HIV-infected mothers and 150-200 babies born with HIV 
each year in HCMC alone -- HCMC, and Vietnam writ large, had no 
choice but to develop effective public-private partnerships on 
HIV/AIDS. 
 
6. (SBU) Comment:  It is highly unusual for the Church to push the 
envelope so publicly to put pressure on the local government to 
support the Archdiocese's HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment 
activities.  While it reflects the Cardinal's frustration with the 
current state of affairs in HCMC, it also suggests that the Church 
believes that officialdom is more tolerant and open to dialogue 
initiated by NGOs.  Judged by the positive responses from local 
government representatives, the Cardinal's gambit can be 
considered a PR success.  However, it remains to be seen if the 
goodwill and positive rhetoric will translate into improved 
government operational support and cooperation on the ground. 
 
WINNICK