As many as 457,691 Vietnamese children nationwide are exposed to HIV/AIDS, 9,757 of them are living with the deadly disease.

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Welfare announced the figures in a report at a conference in Hanoi on November 19 to review the three-year implementation of Decision No. 84/2009/QD-TTg dated June 4, 2009 by the Prime Minister, approving the National Action Plan for HIV/AIDS-affected children until 2010 with a vistion to 2020.

The plan will raise public awareness and boost inter-sectoral cooperation in protecting and caring for HIV/AIDS-affected children. It includes those who are infected and those at risk of contracting HIV, such as drug users, victims of human trafficking and sexual harassment, homeless and orphaned children, and those born to HIV/AIDS-infected parents.

In the last three years, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Welfare, the Ministry of Public Health and relevant agencies have hosted over 11,000 seminars and offered HIV/AIDS refresher courses to over 60,000 lecturers and students nationwide.