Supporting Young People and Public Health in Vietnam
INTERVIEW In 2015, Expertise France launched the long-term project “Saving the Future” in partnership with SCDI in Vietnam. The goal: to tackle a major public health issue— slowing the spread of HIV/AIDS among young people, especially drug users.
With Dr Oanh Thi Hai Khuat,
co-founder and Executive Director, Center for Supporting Community Development Initiatives (SCDI), Vietnam
What is the context behind the project?
In Vietnam, drug use is criminalized. Offenders are fined, arrested, and may be sent to compulsory detoxification centers. This punitive approach fuels stigma and worsens the situation. Young people and women, in particular, are marginalized and often too afraid to seek help or access health services. Meanwhile, patterns of drug use among young people have shifted— from injectable opioids to synthetic stimulants like methamphetamines. Drug user networks have raised concerns about the consequences: risky sexual behavior, mental health disorders, and increased violence. While authorities were considering harsher policies, SCDI felt the urgency to act.
What model have you developed to support drug users?
It took time to design a community- based intervention model because we had to build it from scratch. We worked with experts worldwide—including from France—to shape it. We identified the links between mental health, drug use, and HIV/AIDS, and based the project on five pillars: promoting protected sex, HIV testing, therapeutic support, healing childhood trauma, and providing guidance on drug use and mental health. What makes our approach truly innovative is the active involvement of young beneficiaries in designing and delivering the activities themselves.
What do you see as the most urgent priority going forward?
We need to broaden mental health initiatives to include other key populations—especially the LGBTQIA+ community and sex workers. The strategies are already known; now it’s time to build on what we’ve learned from Saving the Future and scale it beyond drug users. With support from Expertise France, through L’Initiative and funding from the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, we can share our effective model with other countries facing similar challenges— saving them years of trial and error.
