HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has approved an investment in a project titled “Strengthening community connections for HIV/AIDS prevention and control in southern provinces.”

The project, funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), aims to facilitate the community-based approach to HIV prevention, care and treatment and enhance the capacity of community-based organisations tackling HIV/AIDS.

It will be implemented in HCM City for a period of five years, with US$2.1 million from USAID in non-refundable aid.

In a bid to achieve the "90-90-90" goal, the project will provide services ranging from diagnosis to treatment for over 48,200 homosexual men in HCM City and another 3,633 people infected with HIV.

Some 38,337 female sex workers and injection drug users will also benefit from the project.

In 2014, Việt Nam became the first country in Asia to commit to adopting the 90-90-90 targets set by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, which called for a scale-up of HIV testing so that 90 per cent of people with HIV become aware of their status, 90 per cent of people diagnosed with HIV receive antiretroviral treatment and 90 per cent of those on ART receive treatment resulting in undetectable levels of HIV in their blood. — VNS