Nguyen Hoang Long, head of the Department of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control

Nguyen Hoang Long, head of the Department of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control, said the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the community continued was decreasing yet it was witnessing an upward trend in some high-risk groups such as homosexuals or drug users. The implementation of the pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is rapid compared to other countries in the region with a high percentage of maintenance. ARV treatment is being expanded. Currently, there are some 140,000 patients undergoing ARV treatment; the compliance rate after 12 months of treatment reaches 88 percent; the viral load below the suppression threshold (below 1,000 copies/ml of blood) reaches 95 percent, below the detection threshold (200 copies/ml of blood) reaches 92 percent; the national K=K campaign to reduce discrimination and increase people’s access to HIV/AIDS prevention and control services was officially launched; the transition from providing ARV treatment using aid to health insurance was successful.

The national action month to prevent and control HIV/AIDS entitled “Actions to end AIDS” takes place from November 10 to December 10.

The 2019 national action month to prevent and control HIV/AIDS aims to call for the engagement of leaders, policymakers, service providers and the entire community to prevent and control HIV/AIDS to achieve the 90-90-90 treatment target and targets of the National Strategy on HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control by 2020 towards an end to the AIDS epidemic in Viet Nam in 2030.

Concurrently, it sets to accelerate HIV infection prevention, testing and early detection of HIV/AIDS treatment for vulnerable and high-risk people, those who live in remote areas as well as raise health insurance coverage for people infected with HIV. Especially, this year's activities are expected to reduce discrimination against people infected with HIV or impacted by HIV/AIDS; to enhance the support of families and society for people infected with the disease, at the same time, continue to expand the coverage of HIV prevention and testing services to all people./.