Taking sample for HIV testing (Source: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – The Department of HIV/AIDS Prevention has been piloting a series of models to provide consultations and tests for HIV, through local-level medical establishments in some provinces and cities nationwide from 2015-2017, heard a conference in Hanoi on June 3.
Beneficiary localities include Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, the central provinces of Thanh Hoa and Nghe An, and the northern provinces of Thai Nguyen and Dien Bien.
The models have focused on offering HIV testing in the community, training medical staff working in the field, and providing technical support and supervision, and anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment for HIV infected patients.
Those who receive testing include drug addicts, relatives of HIV carriers, prostitutes, gays, transgendered people, and wives of deceased drug addicts and those who have never before been tested for HIV.
According to Dr. Nguyen Thi Thuy Van from the World Health Organisation in Vietnam, as many as 868 people received consultations and 826 others were given tests in Thanh Hoa, 42 of whom were found positive for HIV and 37 of those cases were given ARV treatment .
In Thai Nguyen, nine out of 234 cases tested were positive for HIV and they were also given ARV treatment.
Vo Hai Son from the department said the rate of high-risk people getting tested for HIV reached only 30-35 percent over the last year, and the rate of people living with HIV and knowing their status also remained low.
He stressed that the models help expand consultation and test services in the community and promote treatment after testing.
They have also contributed to mobilising the participation of the entire community in supporting people with HIV/AIDS in accessing comprehensive treatment, thus bringing testing opportunities for high risk populations , Son said.
The models are expected to be expanded to more localities having high rates of people living with HIV/AIDS between 2017-2020.-VNA
