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| HIV-positive patients wait for treatment at a healthcare facility in Lai Châu Province. – VNA/VNS Photo Công Tuyên |
Viet Nam News
HÀ NỘI — About 50,000 people living with HIV in Việt Nam remain unidentified.
The information was released by Đỗ Hữu Thuỷ from the HIV/AIDS Prevention Department underthe Ministry of Health on Thursday in Hà Nội.
The department’s data records some 209,000 people living with HIV in Việt Nam, however, only 175,000 people have the condition under control. Only 130,000 patients receive sustainable anti-virus (ARV) treatments.
In the first six months of 2018, 3,500 new cases of HIV infection were found, more than 1,800 of which turned to AIDS. 814 HIV-positive people died.
Compared to the same period last year, the number of new HIV infections, new AIDS patients and deaths from HIV decreased by 30 per cent, 27 per cent and two per cent, respectively.
The percentage of HIV infected people among drug abusers and prostitutes rose from 7.36 per cent in 2017 to 12.2 per cent in 2018.
Meanwhile, the increase in drug abusers and prostitutes makes the situation hard to control.
Jonh Blandford, director of the Việt Nam Centre for Disease Control, said that HIV-positive people who used ARV medicine daily as prescribed could reduce the amount of virus in their blood and other bodily fluids to undetectable levels and could prevent transmitting HIV to their sexual partners.
The 2018 national action month on HIV/AIDS prevention from November 11 to December 12 focuses on enhancing preventative solutions and providing HIV tests and insurance for high-risk people and those living in isolated areas.
The health ministry also aims to improve the services of HIV tests, HIV/AIDS insurance and treatment for all citizens. — VNS
