Sponsored by the US Military Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology and the US Pacific Command, the workshop was part of efforts by the United States to nurture military-to-military relations with its former foe.

US Lieutenant Colonel Jerome Kim said that although the Vietnamese military does not have a HIV/AIDS crisis, raising awareness of the disease was the key to preventing one from emerging.

"We always view the military as a part of society, and soldiers face the same things that other people in society face," he told reporters.

"And for this reason it isn't that there is a problem in the military but good prevention efforts are part of what every military should do."

HIV/AIDS, Kim said, has been identified by the Pentagon as a potential global national security threat, hence the US military's desire to help efforts to contain transmission of the virus.

"We are looking forward to future work in a number of different areas of policy, laboratory science and counselling, and we hope to build on the success of this first conference," Kim added.

The health ministry estimates more than 200,000 people have contracted HIV in Vietnam, but only around 80,000 have been diagnosed with the virus. Independent experts say as many as 300,000 could be HIV positive.

US-Vietnam military relations were kickstarted in November last year with a landmark trip by Vietnamese Defence Minister Pham Van Tra to Washington for talks with his US counterpart Donald Rumsfeld.

TERRA.WIRE