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Article: AIDS menaces a 'liberated' Vietnam.(Viewpoint)
- Article from:
- National Catholic Reporter
- Article date:
- August 13, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 National Catholic Reporter. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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While working on a documentary for PBS in Vietnam last year, I was amazed to find many teenagers still in their high school uniforms at a Saigon nightclub, kissing each other on the dance floor and drinking alcohol with glee.
One of them, a 15-year-old girl named Hoa, said that her parents thought she was studying at a friend's house. "Vietnam has an open door policy," she joked as she sipped her rum and Coke. "And young people are all liberated now."
I thought of Hoa again recently when I read that President Bush declared he would commit money to a program for delivering medications to people with HIV and AIDS in Vietnam. The first country in Asia ...