This is a continuing activity from FY07.

Funds requested between GHAI and Base (GAP) account will support an LES (Pediatric AIDS Specialist)

and 50% of two LES Program Officers, including salary, benefits/allowances and official travel costs. As

members of the Care and treatment Team, these staff will provide technical assistance (TA) and program

oversight to the Ministry of Health/Vietnam Administration for HIV/AIDS Control (MOH/VAAC) and Ho Chi

Minh City Provincial AIDS Committee (HCMC PAC) PMTCT programs in design, implementation and

evaluation of PMTCT programs. Technical assistance includes developing training curricula and conducting

training to clinicians on PMTCT-related issues and conducting quality assurance control on the

implementation of protocols.

This is a new activity in FY08.

Funds requested between GHAI and Base (GAP) accounts will support three LES positions (two Medical

Research Scientists, and one Program Officer), and 25% of one new USDH Behavioral Scientist who will

provide expertise in behavioral interventions, behavioral and biologic surveys and will support the PEPFAR

Prevention Technical Working Group. Support requested will include salary, benefits and official travel

costs. As part of the CDC Vulnerable Populations Team, the LES staff will provide technical assistance to

government of Vietnam (GVN) agencies, including the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Ho Chi Minh City

Provincial AIDS Committee (HCMC-PAC), in close collaboration with other PEPFAR partners and under the

leadership of the PEPFAR Prevention Technical Working Group. This includes coordinating with MOH,

HCMC-PAC, and other PEPFAR partners on all activities related to program design, implementation and

evaluation of prevention interventions targeting MARPs, including IDU and CSW.

This is a new activity in FY08.

PEPFAR and other donors' sex worker interventions target women through drop-in centers and outreach to

massage parlors, karaoke bars, guesthouses and other entertainment establishments. Outreach for clients

targets men in drinking establishments that may precede solicitation of transactional sex. These primary

models are aimed at the most evident forms of sex work, where standard peer outreach and condom

promotion are indicated. At the same time, anecdotal evidence suggests there is likely a continuum of

transactional sex, ranging from manual stimulation to penetrative intercourse, whether for money, status,

drugs or other material goods. These other forms of transactional sex may be associated with variable HIV

risks or variable risk perceptions that may influence decisions to practice safer behaviors.

To inform PEPFAR and other partners' HIV prevention programs, and to ensure targeted use of resources,

TBD partner will complete a rapid assessment of transactional sex practices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City

to document the continuum of sex work in representative urban areas. The selected organization will work

closely with the PEPFAR prevention team to develop an appropriate methodology. Key topics for

investigation will include:

• Different forms of sex work, including those for financial transactions, drugs or other forms of

compensation.

• Locales for meeting sexual partners, typical means of introduction and negotiating sexual services.

• Actual risk practices involved as well as the perception of HIV risk for male and female partners in different

forms of transactional sex. TBD partner will also examine the effect this perception has on safer sexual

practices (partner selection, condom use).

• HIV/STI related needs and care seeking behavior by women contacted and their experiences with HIV/STI

care services.

• History of interaction with any outreach workers or HIV prevention programs; attitudes toward and

experiences with outreach or other prevention programs.

• Relative financial needs reported by women who engage in sex work. This will illuminate the various

reasons women are involved in sex work, whether to provide for families, support drug habits, gain status,

or to purchase consumer goods such as motorbikes and cell phones.

The rapid assessment will provide a rich, qualitative understanding of the forms of sex work in Vietnam.

Data collection will include confidential individual interviews with women engaged in sex work, and men who

report visiting sex workers. Information will be directly used to inform program activities and targeting most

risky behaviors in accordance with the PEPFAR Vietnam 5-Year Prevention Strategy and the FY08

strategic prevention focus on targeting those most at risk for HIV transmission.

This is a new activity in FY08.

The purpose of this activity is to earmark FY08 funds to purchase additional drugs to treat opportunistic

infections (OI). OI drugs for PEPFAR-supported programs are currently procured through the Ministry of

Health/Vietnam Administration for AIDS Control (MOH/VAAC) and the Ho Chi Minh City Provincial AIDS

Committee (HCMC PAC). PEPFAR has already allocated $3,300,000 to VAAC and HCMC PAC in activity

narratives in the FY08 COP to procure OI drugs for all PEPFAR-supported sites. However, an additional

$500,000 may be needed to support these activities and for this reason it will be listed as TBD. PEPFAR is

currently working with the Supply Chain Management System (SCMS), VAAC, and HCMC PAC to finalize

OI drug procurement projections. When these projections are complete, and after there have been several

more months of scale-up, the PEPFAR team plans to allocate these funds. This should take place by

January 2008.

This is a continuing activity from FY07 and is supported with both Base and GHAI funds.

Funds requested between GHAI and Base (GAP) accounts will support will support 50% of one new LES

(Medical Research Scientist), one full time LES (Medical Research Scientist), 50% of two LES (Medical

Research Scientist, HCMC Program Officer), 50% of one contractor (Medical Officer), and two USDH

Medical Officers (50% and 65% respectively), including salary, benefits and official travel costs.

As part of the PEPFAR Care and Treatment Team, these staff will provide technical assistance (TA) and

program oversight to the Ministry of Health/Vietnam Administration for HIV/AIDS Control (VAAC) and Ho

Chi Minh City Provincial AIDS Committee (HCMC PAC) out-patient clinics on all activities related to design,

implementation and evaluation of care and the development of training curricula and delivery of training for

clinicians and community members working in HIV palliative care activities. TA will be coordinated with all

USG partners to maximize impact and efficiency the PEPFAR treatment program across agencies.

This is a continuing activity from FY07 and is supported with both Base and GHAI funds.

Funds requested between GHAI and Base (GAP) accounts will support two LES (Medical Research

Scientist, Medical Research technician), 50% of LES (Project Officer-HCMC), and 50% of LES (Medical

Officer-HCMC), including salary, benefits and official travel costs. As part of the PEPFAR Care and

Treatment Team, these staff will provide technical assistance and program oversight to Ministry of

Health/Vietnam Administration for HIV/AIDS Control (MOH/VAAC) and Ho Chi Minh City Provincial AIDS

Committee (HCMC PAC) Palliative Care-TB/HIV programs. Requested funds will also provide travel costs

for TB Technical Advisor from the HHS/CDC Asia Regional Office in Bangkok, and at least three trips of

extended duration for HHS/CDC Atlanta-based technical assistance.

Funding will permit HHS/CDC to conduct a TB infection control assessment in collaboration with VAAC to

document both the quantity and quality of TB screening in HIV care and treatment settings, and will support

short term international technical assistance to MOH/VAAC and HCMC PAC.

This is a continuing activity from FY07 and is supported with both Base and GHAI funds.

Funds requested between GHAI and Base (GAP) accounts will support two locally employed staff (LES)

research scientists, including their salaries, benefits and official travel costs. As members of the PEPFAR

prevention technical working group, these staff will provide technical assistance (TA) and programmatic

oversight to Ministry of Health/Vietnam Administration for HIV/AIDS Control (MOH/VAAC) and the Ho Chi

Minh City Provincial AIDS Committee (HCMC PAC) in the design, implementation and evaluation of

counseling and testing (CT) activities as well as the development of training curricula and training of

counselors and supervisors. Funds will also support VAAC to coordinate and implement a "best practices in

CT" experience-sharing meeting in FY08.

This is a continuing activity from FY07 and is supported with both BASE and GHAI funds.

Funds requested between GHAI and Base (GAP) accounts will support two LES (Medical Research

Scientist, Program Officer), 50% of one LES (Medical Research Scientist), 50% of one Vietnam contractor

(Medical Advisor-HCMC), and 50% of one USDH (Medical Officer), including salary, benefits and official

travel costs.

As part of the PEPFAR interagency Care and Treatment technical working group, these staff will provide

technical assistance (TA) and program oversight to Ministry of Health (MOH) and Ho Chi Minh City

Provincial AIDS Committee (HCMC PAC) out-patient clinics on all activities related to design,

implementation and evaluation of ARV Services for HIV-infected individuals. TA will be coordinated with all

USG partners to maximize impact and efficiency the PEPFAR treatment program across agencies.

This is a continuing activity from FY07.

Funds requested between GHAI and Base (GAP) accounts will support one locally-employed (Lab Program

Officer), 50% of an LES (Project Officer-HCMC), 50% of a VNPSC (Senior Medical Officer-HCMC), one

USPSC (Senior Laboratory Advisor), and one contractor (Lab Information Specialist), including salary,

benefits and official travel costs.

These staff will provide technical assistance (TA) and program oversight for prevention and care and

treatment programs in PEPFAR-supported laboratory networks. Funds will go to TA support to laboratory

partners in Vietnam, particularly to those in the Ministry of Health (VAAC, NIHE, NIITD and HCMC PAC).

TA will consist of guidance on design, implementation, and evaluation of laboratory programs, including the

development of national standards for reference and provincial laboratories, development of training

guidelines and training curricula, training of laboratory staff, and development of quality assurance (QA)

systems strengthening for laboratories.

These funds also include support for ongoing South-South relationship with the regional CDC lab in

Bangkok to provide technical assistance for CD4 EQA, diagnostic training for opportunistic infections, EQA

for serology, HIV drug resistance and other technical laboratory support as needed . These funds were

previously supported by the CDC GAP regional office, but now will be funded through Vietnam.

Funds will also be used to hire a Laboratory Technical Specialist (100%) for ISO Accreditation.

This is a continuing activity from FY07 and is supported with both Base and GHAI funds.

Funds requested between GHAI and Base (GAP) accounts will support five LES (Applications Development

Manager, Computer Programmer, two Program Officers, SI Assistant), one USDH (Strategic Information

Section Chief), and one VNPSC (M&E Officer), including salary, benefits and official travel costs. As

members of the PEPFAR SI working group, these staff will provide technical assistance (TA) and program

oversight to government of Vietnam (GVN) agencies including the Ministry of Health (MOH), Ho Chi Minh

City Provincial AIDS Committee (HCMC PAC), the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE)

and Hanoi School of Public Health (HSPH) and other USG partners in the area of strategic information to

strengthen capacity for collecting and analyzing data for program implementation, monitoring, evaluation

and planning. Funds will support short-term TA visits by technical experts to strengthen PEPFAR SI

activities, and will support IT infrastructure development for the PEPFAR team to facilitate interagency

communication and central storage of data and program files. Funds will also be used to provide IT

solutions to PEPFAR information needs including internet and wide-area network connectivity, GPS

hardware for activity mapping, handheld pc equipment for collecting non-facility-based or point-of-service

information, and web-based solutions for facilitating information-sharing with PEPFAR partners. Finally,

these funds will support participation in information-sharing within the region for SI best practices and

lessons learned.

This is a continuing activity from FY07 and is supported with both Base and GHAI funds.

Funds requested between GHAI and Base (GAP) accounts will support staff salaries/allowances and

related office support, including travel, communications, equipment, and miscellaneous procurement, etc.

The following positions are currently supported with Management and Staffing funding:

Existing positions:

Country Director, US direct-hire (100%)

Deputy Director, US direct-hire (100%)

Associate Director, HCMC office, US direct-hire (35%)

Two Office Managers, LES (100%)

Senior Financial Specialist, LES (100%)

Financial Assistant, LES (100%)

IT Specialist, LES (100%)

Two Secretaries, LES (100%)

Receptionist, LES (100%)

Administrative Assistant, HCMC, LES (100%)

Two drivers, LES (100%)

Senior Medical Officer (50%)

Newly requested positions for FY08:

AD Science/Behavioral Scientist (75%)

Public Health Advisor (100%)

Senior Project Officer, LES (100%)

Project Officer, LES (100%)

1.5 Administrative Assistant, LES (100%)

In FY08, CDC will establish a program management unit to better manage and monitor the rapidly growing

HHS/CDC cooperative agreement portfolio with the government of Vietnam (GVN). Individuals in this unit

will be responsible for working closely with GVN counterparts to develop their management and

administration capacity by providing support to partners in the development, implementation and monitoring

of budgets, work plans, and activities in the field. These responsibilities had previously been assigned as

collateral duty to the technical officers, with oversight from the Deputy Director for Management. But as the

program has grown, technical staff has had to work full time on expansion activities. This unit will also be

responsible for assisting in the development of funding opportunity announcements, conducting technical

reviews of cooperative agreement applications, assuring that grantees submit continuation applications in a

timely manner, and providing overall management/administrative support to partners. The staffing of this

unit, which will consist of one USDH Public Health Advisor, and four locally employed staff (one senior

project officer, three project officers) will be phased in over the next two years. The request for FY08 is for

the PHA manager and two locally employed project officers.

CDC is requesting a USDH position to serve as an Associate Director for Science as a subject matter

expert for human subjects' issues. The incumbent will plan, direct, analyze, and implement a variety of

human subject research-related programmatic, technical, and administrative efforts in support of the day-to-

day operations of PEPFAR programs. This position will fill an unmet interagency technical need for a senior

scientist, and support various surveillance activities including size estimation, behavioral and biologic

surveys, and sentinel surveillance strengthening. The incumbent will also have expertise in behavioral

interventions, and will support the PEPFAR Interagency Prevention working group chaired by the USAID

Senior Prevention Advisor. Seventy-five percent of his/her time will be devoted to IRB/human subject's

management issues and 25% percent to prevention.

An additional 1.5 administrative positions are requested in FY08 to provide support services to the CDC

PEPFAR Office. The workload in this office has increased substantially since the last addition to the

administrative supportstaff in FY05. The budget has increased $54 million over the past two years alone

and the staff has grown by 16 positions (including FY08 requested positions). With the formulation of the

Program Management Unit and the expansion of three USDH positions in the FY07 and 08 budgets, the

workload is expected to continue to increase substantially. Support for the remainder of the second position

will come from the CDC Avian Influenza activity, which is located within the CDC office.