Conservative social norms in Vietnam traditionally have precluded discussion of such public health issues related to sexuality as contraceptive decisionmaking, violence against women, and adolescent behaviors. With the advent of HIV/AIDS, public health training has fast become vital to ensuring accurate dissemination of information about how the disease is spread, who is most vulnerable, and the most promising actions for prevention, care of those infected, and mitigation of the effects on families and the larger community. 
Vietnam public health fellows gathered for a group picture at the 2002 American Public Health Association annual meeting in Philadelphia. Photo credit: Nhu To Nguyen |
Strengthening local capacity is a key component of the Population Council’s mission. Working with the Ministry of Health and with support from an anonymous donor, the Council established a public health fellowship program for Vietnamese professionals in 1994. Fellowship training was further expanded in 2002 by a grant from The Ford Foundation establishing the “Fellowship Program for Vietnamese Professionals in Reproductive Health, Sexuality, and Social Sciences,” implemented collaboratively with the Hanoi School of Public Health. Together, these two programs have provided training to 100 Vietnamese researchers, with another 21 due to complete their Master’s in Public Health by mid-2005. They have pursued high-quality, cross-disciplinary master’s-level training in academic institutions in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Australia, as well as such U.S. universities as Harvard, Columbia, UCLA, Berkeley, and Johns Hopkins. The Vietnam fellows have produced original research on topics ranging from low-birth-weight infants to the vulnerability of fishermen to HIV infection. In partnership with the Hanoi School of Public Health and the Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy, the Council has designed a new initiative to support returned fellows and further strengthen research capacity in Vietnam. The Health Research for Development Initiative offers returned fellows a network for sharing information and discussing common research interests, and opportunities to participate in research projects. The network is especially valued by researchers in the provinces, for whom isolation can be a real problem. A modest research grant program makes it possible for fellows to develop and implement research initiatives specific to their country and province. Every year, a national research meeting brings fellows together to discuss research findings, and travel grants promote their participation in international meetings. In outlining his hopes for the program, Robert Miller, the Council’s fellowship program director, notes, “The fellows’ research on previously ‘taboo topics’ in Vietnam is expected to be disseminated widely, both in scientific and popular publications, to spur broad discussion of the findings, to stimulate additional research, and, ultimately, to contribute to changes in societal norms and behavior.” Gauging progress in increasing Vietnam’s strength in the health and social sciences and helping to launch new fields of research in reproductive health and sexuality will take time. “However,” says Jane Hughes, the Council’s representative in Hanoi, “we are proud of the program’s strong record, and we are confident that its graduates will be central contributors to achievement of these objectives in coming years.” (Return to issue contents)
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