VietNamNet Bridge - With more than 220,000 people infected with HIV, Vietnam ranks fifth in Asia-Pacific (after India, China, Indonesia and Thailand) for the number of HIV carriers, said Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long.

Vietnam has controlled the growth rate of new HIV infections and reduced the number of deaths due to AIDS. However, the situation has become more complicated.

Each year Vietnam has about 10,000 new HIV carriers and HIV/AIDS remains the leading cause of disease in the country. Investment for prevention is decreasing. In addition, interventions have not been sufficient and discrimination against patients with HIV or AIDS continues.

HIV in Vietnam is mainly concentrated in three groups of population at risk: drug addicts, men who have sex with men and sex workers. The increase in cases of newly HIV-infected women, accounting for over 32% of new infections in 2013, shows the transmission of HIV from men with high-risk behaviors to their partners.

Admitting that discrimination against HIV/AIDS is still a big problem, Deputy Minister Long stressed that HIV/AIDS can only be terminated when there is no discrimination.

"Stigma and discrimination led people living with HIV/AIDS to hide their situation, which makes it difficult to detect new HIV infections and increases the risk of it spreading throughout the community," he added.

Long said the level of investment in HIV/AIDS prevention and a lack of intervention measures were not strong enough to tackle the stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS in Vietnam.

"This year's action month will focus its activities to strengthen awareness among the society of HIV/AIDS, and reduce stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS. Reducing discrimination could facilitate easier access to preventive and treatment services," Long said.

Vietnam Fact Sheet (Source: UNAIDS)

In 2013, there were 35 million [33.2 million–37.2 million] people living with HIV worldwide and about 256,000 people living with HIV in Viet Nam.

Since the start of the epidemic, around 39 million [35 million–43 million] people have died of AIDS-related illnesses worldwide. In Vietnam nearly 71,000 have died of AIDS-related illness.

Worldwide, 2.1 million [1.9 million–2.4 million] people and 240,000 [210,000–280,000] children became newly infected with HIV in 2013.

In Vietnam, there were about 8,500 diagnosed new HIV infections in the first nine months of 2014.

Worldwide, 1.5 million [1.4 million–1.7 million] people died from AIDS-related illnesses in 2013.

In Vietnam, there were more than 1,500 people who died from AIDS-related illnesses in the first nine months of 2014.

Worldwide, around 12.9 million people living with HIV had access to antiretroviral therapy in 2013. This represents 37% [35–39%] of all people living with HIV, yet only 24% [22–26%] of all children living with HIV are receiving the life-saving medicines.

In Viet Nam, about 89,000 people living with HIV were on antiretroviral therapy (ART) by September 2014, representing 36% of all people living with HIV. Also by September 2014, there were nearly 4,500 children living with HIV on ART, representing more than 90% of all children living with HIV.

Worldwide

HIV is the leading cause of death among women of reproductive age.

Gay men and other men who have sex with men are 19 times more likely to be living with HIV than the general population.

HIV prevalence among sex workers is 12 times greater than among the general population.

Transgender women are 49 times more likely to acquire HIV than all adults of reproductive age.

HIV prevalence is estimated to be up to 28 times higher among people who inject drugs than the general population.

Vietnam

AIDS is among the top causes of premature death.

About 28% of new HIV infections occurred among women who are in long-term sexual relationships with men who are living with HIV, particularly men who injected drugs.

In 2013, only 56% of people living with HIV know their status.

In 2013, only 31.5% of sex workers, 28.9% of men who have sex with men, and 23.6% of people who inject drugs were tested for HIV and knew the result.

Le Ha