Noting a 2011 report (.pdf) from Human Rights Watch (HRW) on conditions within Vietnam’s compulsory drug treatment centers, the Center for Global Health Policy’s “Science Speaks” blog reports the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria on Wednesday released a statement “reiterating the charity’s commitment to human rights and announcing that the $85 million grant signed in May with Vietnam’s Ministry of Health includes a stipulation that requires the government to identify and allow an independent international organization to monitor conditions at the country’s compulsory drug detention centers.” The blog continues, “The fund has also been ‘closely working with its Vietnamese counterparts to ensure a sensible timeframe’ to close the centers, the statement says.” The blog includes comments on the Global Fund statement from Joseph Amon, director of the health and human rights program at HRW (Barton, 7/31).