In a report released at a Thursday press conference, the deputy head of the Vietnam Administration of HIV/AIDS Control, Bui Hoang Duc, said that Vietnam now has nearly 250,000 people living with HIV. While the country had seen a dramatic fall in newly-diagnosed cases between 2007-2019, the number had risen again since 2020.
"We found 10,219 new cases in the first nine months of 2023 and 1,126 patients died during the period," Duc said. "More than 60 percent of the cases were from the southern region and 84.40 percent of them were men."
The report also revealed that the number of cases infected by sexual transmission has continued rising, accounting for 80 percent of newly-found infections. The infection rate has also increased among young people aged between 16-29, especially among men who have sex with men (MSM).
Speaking at the conference, the Country Director for the US Centres for Disease Control in Vietnam, Eric Dziuban, hailed Vietnam's progress in HIV treatment over the past time since its first appearance in the country in 1990. However, he called for continued efforts, especially changing people's awareness and attitude towards HIV-infected people, so that the country can realise its target of eliminating HIV/AIDS by 2030.
According to figures shared at the conference, 172,193 people were living with HIV on anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment by the end of 2022, representing 82 per cent of all people with HIV who know their HIV status. Further up-scaling of treatment initiation within the same day of HIV diagnosis can help reduce loss in follow-up and increase enrolment into ARV treatment.
Vietnam was lauded for the significant increase in pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use in 2022, with about 51,493 people receiving PrEP at least once, up by 59 per cent from 2021. PrEP is seen as a key strategy for the prevention of sexual transmission of HIV.
The National Strategy to End AIDS by 2030 set Vietnam for the target of 90 per cent of all people living with HIV being diagnosed by 2025.
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