Partcipants at the launching ceremony (Source: organisation board)HCM City (VNA) – A campaign to tackle HIV was launched in Ho Chi
Minh City on May 24.
A person living with HIV taking antiretroviral (ARV) therapy daily as instructed
by doctors and maintaining the condition of undetectable viral load will have no risk to transfer HIV virus to his/her
partners, read a message released at a ceremony to launch the .
The K=K (undetectable=incommunicable) campaign was launched by the Ho
Chi Minh City Centre for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control, the US Centre for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Vietnam and the Vietnam Network of
People Living with HIV/AIDS (VNP+).
The message released at the ceremony explained how a person living with
HIV taking antiretroviral (ARV) therapy daily and maintaining an undetectable
viral load has no risk of transferring the HIV virus to sexual partners.
Dr. John Blandford, Principal Director of the CDC Division of Global
HIV/AIDS, said the message brings new hope for those who are living with and
their friends and family.
With access to ARV treatment, HIV-infected people can keep their viral
load to an undetectable level and can live longer. They can have children and
don’t have to worry about passing the virus to their partner, he said.
Meanwhile, discrimination against HIV-infected people will be reduced
and eliminated due to higher public awareness of the low risk, said Blandford.
At the same time, Dr. Hoang Dinh Canh, Vice Director of the Department
of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control under the Ministry of Health, said the
message is important in making those living with HIV more confident and more
integrated into society.
The K=K campaign runs through September 30, 2018 with various activities
such as providing the undetectable=incommunicable message to health staff and
people living with HIV/AIDS, and communications targeting HIV-infected people
on the need to strictly follow treatment plans.
The evidence-based campaign has been recognised by more than 700
organisations and agencies in 75 countries worldwide.-VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
