Illustrative image (Photo: Internet) HCM City (VNA) – Vietnam has seen an increase in the number of adolescents infected with HIV, especially among gays.
Statistics from the Health Ministry showed that the number of HIV carriers aged 15-16 rose three-fold in 2019 from 2011.
Associate Prof. Dr. Nguyen Hoang Long, Director of the Vietnam Administration for HIV/AIDS Control, attributed the increase to homosexual sex among boys and drug abuse at schools.
Among 375 patients under treatment at Children Hospital No.1 in Ho Chi Minh City, 57 age above 15 and 226 others age 10-15.
Over the past years, the hospital has worked closely with the Partnership for Health Advancement in Vietnam, the Ho Chi Minh City Disease Control Centre and other social organisations to hold training courses on HIV transmission prevention and control, and partnered with other units to offer vocational training to HIV-infected youths who left schools./.
