Ha Noi (VNA) – The US Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has estimated that 39,000 Vietnamese become infected with HIV each year, a number close to the estimated 40,000 new infections in the United States each year.
According to a report issued by the CSIS HIV/AIDS Task Force Mission after its recent fact-finding visit to Viet Nam , there are today more than 300,000 people living with HIV in Viet Nam .
The magnitude of the epidemic varies greatly from province to province in Viet Nam , the report said, adding that HIV prevalence in Ho Chi Minh City (1.2 percent), Ha Noi (0.7 percent), Hai Phong City (1.1 percent), and other urban areas is comparatively high, while prevalence in the country's central provinces remains low. Ho Chi Minh City alone has reported about one-fourth of all HIV-positive cases in Viet Nam to date.
The report, announced by the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in Ha Noi last week, emphasised that the country’s prevention-focused strategy will require overcoming significant barriers, including pervasive stigma and the current lack of a comprehensive national plan for treating and preventing drug injection.
Given the facts, CSIS confirmed that it is relatively optimistic about the potential to control successfully the spread of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in Viet Nam, and that several favourable factors improve Viet Nam’s chances for success in its struggle to combat HIV/AIDS.
Among developing countries, Viet Nam's surveillance system is considered to be one of the strongest and most reliable, the report said.-Enditem
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