ABSTRACT
While HIV and COVID-19 are vastly different conditions, with different routes of transmission affecting different populations, both became pandemics filling citizens with anxiety and fear in Vietnam. The analysis offered here is based on our shared experiences as researchers and practitioners working together to improve access to prevention and treatment for marginalised groups for both diseases. In the case of HIV, at-risk groups and people living with HIV distrusted the state's moralistic, directive and inflexible approach. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) piloted and pioneered responsive, participatory programmes in collaboration with the state to (re)build trust and improve relationships between citizens and the state. In contrast, top-down restrictive COVID-19 management was initially accepted by people in Vietnam. The state initially accomplished many successes, including the rapid upscale of widely accessible vaccination. However, the break-down of communication in a complex and rapidly evolving later stage of the epidemic, the use of force, exceptionalism and lack of transparency diminished the trust of citizens. This time, civil society was not invited to help re-build relationships between citizens and the state, contributing to the current situation in which the space occupied by civil society is shrinking, while scandals and rumours are causing damage to the Vietnamese state.
