A medical worker gives advice to an HIV patients (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – June 2018 has been selected as the action month to prevent
, Hoang Dinh Canh, deputy head of the Health
Ministry’s Department of Prevention and Control, said on June 7.
The purpose of the action month is to promote the
involvement of the entire political system and people in reducing the rate of
mother-to-child HIV transmission to below 2 percent by 2020.
It is expected to help complete the target of 90
percent of pregnant women given anti-retroviral treatment in 2018, and all
babies born to mothers with HIV receiving .
The
campaign also aims to raise the awareness of people from all walks of life,
especially pregnant women and spouses of people with HIV, of the benefits of
early HIV testing.
Activities
held during the month also look to reduce discriminations against HIV-infected
pregnant women and their children.
Throughout the month, services to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission will
be stepped up, including expanding HIV testing for pregnant women, and
providing anti-retroviral drugs for HIV-infected women.
The Ministry of Health’s Maternal and Child Health Department reported that the
rate of HIV infection among the country’s two million pregnant women every year
is 0.25 percent.
Pregnant women living in districts reported to be HIV hotbeds in 32 provinces
and cities will be tested for HIV. All those who are confirmed HIV positive
will be given long-term anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment.
Vietnam is aiming to keep the rate of new HIV/AIDS infections below 0.3
percent, while reducing the impact of HIV/AIDS on socio-economic development.
Vietnam saw decreases in the number of new HIV infections, people living with
AIDS and AIDS-related fatalities for the tenth consecutive year in 2017,
according to the Ministry of Health.
More than 209,400 people are living with HIV nationwide, including more
than 90,100 cases of HIV developing into full-blown AIDS, and about 94,600
people have died of HIV/AIDS so far. The country’s HIV/AIDS prevalence among
the population remains below 0.3 percent.
Last year, the country recorded about 9,800 people newly infected with
HIV and 1,800 deaths due to HIV, down 1.1 percent and 15 percent, respectively,
from 2016. The number of people contracting AIDS also declined by 39
percent.-VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
