The number of people living with HIV/AIDS in stood at 20,666 as of October 31, ranking second nationwide and making up 10 percent of the country’s total cases (Illustrative photo: Medical News Today)S in Hanoi stood at 20,666 as of October 31, ranking
second nationwide and making up 10 percent of the country’s total cases.
Notably, 30 percent of these people are
undiagnosed, while many have yet to take life-saving antiretroviral (ARV)
therapy or have given up the ARV treatment, according to the city’s centre for
disease control.
Hanoi has taken various steps to prevent the
increasing rate of HIV infections. The city has expanded its provision of
methadone treatment for drug users at 18 health care facilities and given away
condoms and injection needles to high-risk people across all districts.
However, according to the Hanoi Department
of Health, the effectiveness of local prevention efforts remains low as the
pattern of HIV infection is complicated and changing. The prevalence of HIV
transmission through blood in Hanoi dropped, but sexually-transmitted
infections rose this year. The number of new HIV infections among gay men
increased sharply, from 1.1 percent in 2015 to 24.8 percent in 2018.
Many people living with HIV/AIDS refuse HIV
testing and treatment due to fear of being discriminated by society. It is one
of the main causes behind the low rate of new being detected and
of HIV-positive people joining ARV treatment.
Funding cuts and lack of personnel and
facilities for HIV/AIDS control and prevention has also contributed to the
problems.
According to the Ministry of Health, about
50,000 people living with HIV in Vietnam remain unidentified. Some 209,000
HIV-affected people are recorded in the country, however only 175,000 are
seeking or undergoing treatment. Only 130,000 patients receive sustainable ARV
treatment.
In the first six months of 2018, 3,500 new cases of HIV infection
were found, more than 1,800 of which developed into AIDS. A total of 814
HIV-positive people died during this period.
Compared to the same period last year, the number of new HIV
infections, new AIDS patients, and deaths from HIV-related illnesses decreased
by 30 percent, 27 percent, and 2 percent, respectively.
The percentage of HIV infected people among drug abusers and sex
workers rose from 7.36 percent in 2017 to 12.2 percent in 2018. The lack of
support for these vulnerable groups has meant that the disease has been hard to
control across this demographic. –VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
