People in Vietnam now can conduct HIV tests by themselves, instead of having to come to medical centres.
The service has been launched in Vietnam under the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The launching ceremony in HCM City on August 26 saw the participation of US Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius.
US Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius at the launching ceremony of HIV self-testing in HCM City on August 26
According to Dr. Nguyen Hoang Long, Head of the Vietnam Department for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control, to date, around 200,000 people in Vietnam have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, and the real figure may be much higher as many people have not yet taken any HIV test for the fear that their names may be revealed and they will face discrimination.
Under the support of the USAIDS, the HIV self-testing by using tube-tests has been piloted in Vietnam from today, August 26. The method is very simple when it is only needed to gently swipe the pad on the test swab only once along your upper gums and lower gums; put the test directly into the test tube and the result will be given after 20 minutes.
Dr. Long said, with the method, which is 99% accurate, people can easily take HIV tests for themselves to timely know whether they are infected with HIV or not. This technique has been widely applied in many countries, including China and the Philippines as well.
Around 10,000 free test-tubes will be planned to be provided for HIV/AIDS prevention and control centres in Hanoi firstly. If the model has good results, the model will be expanded nationwide.
