While the first case of AIDS was not identified in Vietnam until 1990, the spread of the disease has increased at an alarming rate over the past decade. It is currently estimated that 1 percent of the population is HIV positive and nearly half of those infected are between the ages of 15 and 20 years. The disproportionate number of adolescents and young adults affected by HIV/AIDS strongly suggests the need for developing prevention programs targeting this population. At the same time as the HIV/AIDS epidemic has spread throughout Vietnam, multiple social and economic changes have affected employment, education, access to healthcare, and in-country migration. Over the past several years, increasing evidence has suggested that alcohol use is a predictor of unsafe behaviors. Among these studies, there is a small body of research from Southeast Asia, including Vietnam. At this time, however there is very little information regarding the alcohol consumption patterns and contexts in Vietnam, particularly in regards to adolescents and young adults. The concomitant risks of exposure to HIV, unwanted pregnancy, and the multiple health problems associated with alcohol abuse suggests a real need to integrate efforts to address these issues. In the proposed 3-year project, we are interested in understanding more about the relationship between alcohol use and HIV risk among Vietnamese adolescents and young adults. With these data, we propose to adapt, integrate and pilot an HIV-alcohol risk reduction program for alcohol users between the ages of 16 and 24 years. The program will be delivered to youth in their 'friendship groups', with the intention of changing group norms in regards to alcohol consumption patterns, and HIV risk and protective behaviors. The research will be based in a political economic theory of culture with a particular emphasis on the relationships between individual and socio-cultural representations of gender, life-stages, and class. Within this framework of culture, the research will focus on young men's and women's expectations and engagement in alcohol consumption, as well as their perceptions of, intentions, and engagement in protective and risk behaviors for HIV/AIDS.
| Kaljee, Linda M; Green, Mackenzie S; Zhan, Min et al. (2011) Gender, Alcohol Consumption Patterns, and Engagement in Sexually Intimate Behaviors Among Adolescents and Young Adults in Nha Trang, Viet Nam. Youth Soc 43:118-141 |
