(VOV) – Vietnam positively responds to UNAIDS‘s 90-90-90 ambitious treatment target to help end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.
The Ministry of Health held a ceremony in Hanoi on October 25 to this purpose.
Powerful momentum is now building towards a new narrative on HIV treatment and a new, final, ambitious, but achievable target:
By 2020, 90% of all people living with HIV will know their HIV status. 90% of all people with diagnosed HIV infection will receive sustained antiretroviral therapy, and 90% of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression.
At the ceremony, UN Under-Secretary-General Michel Sidibe spoke highly of Vietnam’s achievements in HIV/AIDS prevention, saying that this is a reason that the UN chose Vietnam as the first country in the world to respond to the target towards ending AIDS by 2030.
For her part, Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said by now more than 2,000 drug users in Vietnam have received Methadone treatment and nearly 90,000 HIV/AIDS carriers have got antiretroviral (ARV) treatment. It results in a significant decline of the number of new HIV infections, AIDS patients and fatalities over the past 7 years.
However, Vietnam is entering a new period with a number of challenges in HIV/AIDS prevention, Tien said, adding that there are around 12,000-14,000 new HIV infections annually while financial resources for HIV/AIDS prevention are limited and unstable, mainly depending on foreign aid. It is estimated that Vietnam has just detected around 56% of the number of new HIV infections, far reaching the 90-90-90 treatment target.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam highlighted Vietnam’s determination to reach the ambitious and demanding target for national stability and development.
He asked the MoH to coordinate with relevant ministries, departments and localities to make thorough plans to carry out the UN target.
On the occasion, he expressed sincere thanks for international organisations’ support and hoped that they will continue to assist Vietnam in successfully implementing the 90-90-90 target.
Đăng ký: VietNam News