Vientiane, Laos - Laos' first HIV-testing centre has officially opened in Vientiane, allowing doctors to monitor progress of antiretroviral drug users locally instead of sending blood samples to neighbouring Thailand, media reports said Thursday. The Christophe Merieux Lao Centre was officially opened in the Lao capital Wednesday, the Vientiane Times reported, although the French-funded project has been operating unofficially for two months.
The centre's director, Doctor Ot Manolin, said the new facility allows doctors to monitor the condition of patients receiving anti-HIV drug treatments without sending blood samples to neighbouring Thailand at considerable cost.
"We are pleased to have a new testing service which can reduce the cost of HIV-control activities in Laos," said Doctor Chanthone Khamsibounheuang, deputy director of the government's centre for sexually transmitted diseases.
The testing centre was also be used to test for other prevalent diseases in Laos, such as tuberculosis and viral hepatitis.
According to data compiled from 1990 to 2008 by the government, out of 189,988 blood samples taken, 3,123 tested positive for HIV.
Of these, 2,011 people developed AIDS and 925 people died. Lao doctors said that unsafe sex is the main cause of infection in the country.
