Hanoi has country’s second highest rate of HIV/AIDS

The number of people living with HIV/AIDS in Hanoi stood at 20,666 as of October 31, ranking second nationwide and making up 10 percent of the country’s total cases (Illustrative photo: Medical News Today)   Hanoi (VNA) – The number of people living with HIV/AIDS in Hanoi stood at 20,666 as of October 31, ranking second nationwide and making up 10 percent of the country’s total cases. Notably, 30 percent of these people are undiagnosed, while many have yet to take life-saving antiretroviral (ARV) therapy or have given up the ARV treatment, according to the city’s centre for disease control. Hanoi has taken various steps to prevent the increasing rate of HIV infections. The city has expanded its provision of methadone treatment for drug users at 18 health care facilities and given away condoms and injection needles to high-risk people across all districts. However, according to the Hanoi Department of Health, the effectiveness of local prevention efforts remains low as the pattern of HIV infection is complicated and changing. The prevalence of HIV transmission through blood in Hanoi dropped, but sexually-transmitted infections rose this year. The number of new HIV infections among gay men increased sharply, from 1.1 percent in 2015 to 24.8 percent in 2018. Many people living with HIV/AIDS refuse HIV testing and treatment due to fear of being discriminated by society. It is one of the main causes behind the low rate of new HIV infections being detected and of HIV-positive people joining ARV treatment. Funding cuts… [Read full story]