HIV infections decline in recent years

The conference, organised by the Health Ministry’s HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Department,, reviewed the implementation of a six-year World Bank-funded project running in 32 targeted Vietnamese provinces and cities.

The US$65.9-million project aimed to disseminate HIV/AIDS information among high-risk groups, provide applicable HIV patients with healthcare services and methadone therapy, and forestall the spread of the fatal disease.

Mai Xuan Phuong, Director of the HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Department, said that despite a decline in new HIV infections, the number of patients from higher-risk groups like homosexuals, drug addicts, and prostitutes is on the increase.

Infection via sexual transmission is now more common than via blood transmission. Controlling the pandemic is no easy task, especially in northern mountainous provinces, he added.

More than 62,000 Vietnamese people have been killed by HIV/AIDS. It is predicted that 0.29 percent of the total population will be living with HIV by 2015. The number of new HIV infections requiring antiretroviral treatment is expected to hit 140,000.