Vietnam is seen as a bright spot in HIV/AIDS prevention and control as the epidemic has been well controlled in the country in recent years, experts said at a conference held on December 1 to mark World AIDS Day 2020 and review 30 years of HIV/AIDS efforts in Vietnam.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh lauded Vietnam’s achievements in the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic over the past decades, adding that the epidemic was still a threat to human health and affected economic and social development and the future of both nations and peoples.

Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said that over the past 30 years, Vietnam had implemented comprehensive and effective HIV/AIDS prevention and control activities.

He said: “The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Vietnam has been gradually controlled and the rate of HIV infection in the community is below 0.26 per cent.

“In the past 15 years alone, we have prevented about half a million people from being infected with HIV and saved the lives of about 200,000 people who may have died from AIDS.

“The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS [UNAIDS] said that Vietnam was one of four countries, along with the UK, Germany and Switzerland, to have an especially high quality of HIV/AIDS treatment in the world.”

The country now has about 10,000 new HIV cases and about 2,000 HIV/AIDS-related deaths yearly, compared to 30,000 new cases and 10,000 deaths some 13 years ago.

A UNAIDS report also said Vietnam had the largest national decrease in number of new HIV infections in 2018 (down 64 per cent compared to 2010).

At the event, participants heard that Vietnam still faced many challenges due to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

In addition to the 2,000 annual AIDS deaths, there are still about 40,000 HIV-infected people living in the community without knowing their HIV status. HIV transmission through sex continues to increase, especially among men who have had same-sex relations.

Experts said stigma and discrimination against HIV/AIDS had decreased but were still quite common, causing a barrier for people to access HIV/AIDS health services.

Vietnam has set a goal to basically end the AIDS epidemic by 2030 by having only 1,000 new HIV cases each year in the country.

This means that the country will need to reduce new HIV infections cases by 90 per cent by 2030.

VIET NAM NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK