HCM City medical facilities are overwhelmed by the case load of people in need of treatment for HIV, though fear of discrimination is keeping many more people in need of treatment away.
Medical facilities in HCM City are overcrowded
Some 31 facilities provide antiretroviral (ARV) therapy to 25,000 people with the human immunodeficiency virus, which is the precursor to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), and all are overcrowded.
The Preventive Medical Centre in District 8 handles about 100 people a day, for methadone to treat heroin addiction, and ARV treatment. The centre has 1,700 patients on its books, but only 27 employees.
It treats patients, but also has to make house-calls for patients who have progressed to AIDS.
The Preventive Medical Centre in Thu Duc District, with 1,600 patients, is in a similar position.
In the first six months to June, the city had 765 new cases of HIV and 450 cases of AIDS.
Tieu Thi Thu Van, head of the office of the HCM City Committee for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control, said that by 2017, the city will likely have 51,000 cases of HIV, and it lacked sufficient doctors and facilities to cope.
Authorities are planning to open more facilities for people with HIV/AIDS at district levels and in nearby provinces, and from 2016, general hospitals in districts and prisons will administer ARV.
One of the reasons for the overcrowding is even though many patients can return to their hometowns for treatment, they are reluctant because they fear discrimination.
HIV/AIDS children at Linh Xuan Protection Centre, Thu Duc District
An unofficial survey in 2014 with employees at a medical facility in mountainous Yen Bai Province shows that only 44.3% have a "peaceful" attitude toward those who have contracted HIV/AIDS patients. Many are rejected by their families and communities, and they they also discriminate themselves.
"Discrimination is preventing patients from accessing basic services," said Health Ministry official Do Xuan Thuy.
In an attempt to reduce discrimination, a resolution issued in 2013 said those who discriminate against people with HIV/AIDS patients faced fines of VND10-20m.
Vietnam adopted the 90–90–90 target in 2014 -- 90% of people living with HIV will know their HIV status, 90% of people who know their status are on HIV treatment, and 90% of all people on treatment will have undetectable levels of HIV in their body due to drug therapy.
The objective is to eliminate HIV/AIDS by 2030.
