Paradise Lost

AIDS was first recognized in 1984 in Thailand, it began to spread rapidly in many regions of the world. This epidemic had become a huge problem especially in South Eastern Asian nations, such as India, Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar. Over 5 million people are living with HIV since the beginning of the pandemic.

This World Bank article emphasizes specifically on fighting HIV/ Aids in one of the poorest countries in the World, Vietnam. In Ho Chi Minh City, two thirds of total Aids cases are found among civilians. Not until 2000 Vietnam's mass media began to launch various campaigns for Vietnamese youth informing about the most deadly disease of the century.

In 2004 the World Bank have began a funding in Vietnam, primarily focusing on the issue of HIV/AIDS, to innovate ideas that support the fight against the epidemic, reduce discrimination and stereotype against HIV patience. Vietnam is yet still a primitive nation; people see the epidemic as shame that was only caused by homosexuality, prostitution, or drug addiction. Many Aid and HIV victims die a very lonely and disgraceful death, with no family members by their side. The social "evil" stigma towards the victims is one of the main edges WTO tries to campaign against.

The event was called the Vietnam Innovation Day, which is now known as worldwide Country Innovation Day (CID), the programs goals are to identify and support small local projects, by creating opportunities for individuals and other types of organizations to share and trade information and ideas. Country Innovation Days were seen as a "mini marketplace" hence it was originated from Development Marketplace, an event held by WTO every 18 to 24 months to develop and initiate ideas. The first Vietnam CID was a triumph in 2003, seized as "Innovation for a Safer Life". It was an amazing first step towards fighting AIDS and HIV. Vietnam received a total of $170,000 US dollars to fund 11