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| Võ Hải Sơn, deputy head of Vietnam Administration of HIV/AIDS Control, speaks at the event Photo tiengchuong.chinhphu.vn |
HÀ NỘI – The National Action Month for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control 2023 will be held from November 10 to December 10 with a wide range of activities, aiming to mobilise the involvement of leaders, policymakers, service providers and the community in HIV/AIDS prevention and control as well as increase support for people living with HIV, an official has said.
Speaking at a press conference held in Hà Nội on November 9 on the occasion of World AIDS Day (December 1) and National Action Month for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control 2023, Võ Hải Sơn, deputy head of Vietnam Administration of HIV/AIDS Control (VAAC) under the Ministry of Health, said seminars, running events, music galas and drawing contests will be organised during the month to raise people’s awareness on the disease.
Eric Dziuban, Vietnam Country Director of US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, said Viet Nam is one of the leading countries in terms of public health response. Viet Nam's lessons have been learned and implemented by other countries.
According to Bùi Hoàng Đức from VAAC, 10,219 new HIV infections were detected in Việt Nam in the first nine months of this year and 1,126 people died.
There are nearly 250,000 people living with HIV across the country. Infections are concentrated in southern provinces, with 60 per cent of new HIV cases detected in the Mekong Delta, the Southeast, and HCM City.
The rate of HIV infections in the 16-29 age group has been increasing since 2022, accounting for 50 per cent of the total number of newly detected infections, he said, adding that the infection rate is also rising in the group of men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender people.
In the first nine months of 2023, 177,009 HIV carriers received antiretroviral (ARV) therapy, meeting 80 per cent of the designed target and the number of people receiving pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) treatment surpassed the target, Đức said. — VNS
