Experts gathered and praised the efforts of organisations in Vietnam fighting the battle against HIV/AIDS.
Experts from UNAIDS and the World Health Organization (WHO) praised Vietnam’s significant progress in fighting HIV and Aids over the past 20 years.
On the occasion of the 2010 World AIDS Day theme of “Universal access and human rights”, director of UNAIDS Asia-Pacific Regional, Steve Kraus, and director of the WHO HIV/AIDS Department, Gottfried Hirnschall, both compliment Vietnam on its achievements after 20 years of joining UNAIDS.
“The strong commitment of the Vietnamese Government in fighting the HIV and AIDS epidemic over the past 20 years has proven to be a good example for other countries,” they said. “Vietnam has made great results in widening prevention and treatment services, including harm reduction among drug users and provision of life-saving treatment for people living with HIV.”
“The rate of new HIV infections has been stabilised and there are fewer people dying from HIV and AIDS,” doctor Hirnschall said. “Besides, treatment has increased 16 fold over the past 5 years which shows great success.”
There are, however, some remaining obstacles that hinder the operation of the UNAIDS program in Vietnam such as local people’s low intellectual standards, discriminatory attitude towards HIV patients, or difficult access to treatment.
Vietnam’s HIV epidemic is concentrated among people who inject drugs, prostitutes, and homosexuals. Nearly one in five injecting drug users are living with HIV in Vietnam, and in some areas HIV prevalence in this group is more than 50%.
According to a 2009 UNAIDS survey, the average HIV prevalence among female sex workers in 10 provinces was 8.5%, varying from 0.3% to 23%. It was estimated at the end of 2009 that 243,000 people in Vietnam were living with HIV.
WHO and UNAIDS urged Vietnam to continue to expand and increase its efforts, particularly to ensure that the key affected populations in the country - prostitutes, homosexuals, people who inject drugs- have access to comprehensive HIV services.
Discussing the operation of the programme in the coming time, UNAIDS and WHO also warned about the shortage of budget globally as well as in Vietnam and called on the countries to invest more into programmes.
“Domestic funding for the HIV response is a wise investment for the future well-being of Vietnam, and must be a shared responsibility," said Mr. Kraus.
Vietnam should also strengthen and improve harm reduction services, methadone substitution therapy and sustained HIV treatment. This will help limit the spread of HIV in the country.