Viet Nam ranks among the top nations in the world in the early diagnosis and treatment of HIV infections.

A doctor consults with an HIV-positive patient on how to best treat HIV/AIDS

At a conference to review the prevention of contracting HIV/AIDS from 2005 to 2015, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long noted that while there were only 500 patients receiving ARV treatment in 2004, that number increased to more than 96,000 as of the end of this June.

Further, nearly 50 per cent of the districts nationwide have established HIV/AIDS treatment centres, while more than 500 health clinics in communes provided ARV drugs for patients, ten years after HIV programs were introduced.

Additionally, the prevention of mother-to-baby transmission of HIV has been carried out throughout the country. About 70 per cent of pregnant women are tested for HIV and receive early treatments, if needed, with 96.8 per cent of HIV-positive mothers giving birth to healthy babies.

Today, Centres for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control have been set up in 62 cities and provinces and as many as 1,300 of the nation's hospitals and health centres conduct HIV tests, he said.

Also, 47 of the 63 provinces and cities in the country have provided treatment using methadone to slow the spread of HIV/AIDS among drug users this year.

Fifteen more provinces and cities began offering this treatment in 2015, compared to last year. The country now provides treatment to more than 33,000 HIV/AIDS patients.

At the conference, the department announced the guidelines for caring and providing treatment to HIV patients, which focused on consultancy, diagnosis and antiretroviral (ARV) treatment.

Figures from the department showed that approximately 260,000 HIV-positive patients are living in the country. By the end of this June, the number of infected people was reported to be more than 227,140, with some 71,110 patients having developed AIDS.

VNS