The Rehab Archipelago - Human Rights Watch

in the therapeutic community (TC) model and improvements in staff and resident behavior.
It recommends that “[t]he TC model should be implemented in all Vietnamese drug
treatment centers.” 282 However, certain defining characteristics of the therapeutic
community model (people enter on a voluntary basis, people are free to leave, people are
not held in government centers) are not present in practice in Vietnamese drug detention
centers, a key fact apparently ignored in reaching this recommendation.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
Since 2008, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has funded Vietnam’s
government to provide HIV and TB prevention, testing, and treatment services in drug
detention centers. 283 GF resources have also funded the training of drug detention center
staff on drug relapse prevention and HIV and TB prevention, treatment, and care. 284
In correspondence to Human Rights Watch, the GF executive director summarized the
fund’s support to the Vietnamese government in the following terms:
Funds from the Round 9 HIV grant support activities in approximately 30
detention centers, provide antiretroviral treatment to approximately 1,250
patients, and provide voluntary counseling, testing, and other services to 13,500
patients. Funds from the tuberculosis grants support activities in approximately
35 detention centers and provide direct services to 6,000 detainees. 285
In 2010, Vietnam’s Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) sought additional GF money
to expand support for training and services in 30 more centers, which would bring the
and 6 months after release. If rates of return to drug use were high among these 223 former residents, then the
overall rates of drug use at the six month mark could be considerably higher.
282 Ibid., p. 2.
283 The funds have been provided to the Vietnamese government under HIV/AIDS round 6 (January 2008- March
2010), HIV/AIDS round 8 (beginning April 2010), TB round 9 (beginning January 2011) and HIV/AIDS round 10
(beginning January 2011). Note that Vietnam’s Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) and The Global Fund
refer to Vietnam’s drug detention centers as “Treatment and Education Centers” or (more recently) as
“Training, Education and Social Labor Centers.”
284 The Global Fund and the Ministry of Health of Vietnam,” [TB round 6] Consolidated Program Grant
Agreement,” undated, annex A; The Global Fund and the Ministry of Health of Vietnam, “[TB round 9] Program
Grant Agreement,” signed November 25, 2010, annex A; The Global Fund and the Ministry of Health of Vietnam,
“[HIV round 6] Program Grant Agreement,” signed October 29 and 30, 2007, annex A; The Global Fund and the
Ministry of Health of Vietnam, “[HIV round 8] Program Grant Agreement,” signed November 5, 2009, annex A.
285 Letter from Michel Kazatchkine, executive director, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria,
to Human Rights Watch, June 11, 2011.
79 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | SEPTEMBER 2011