One-third of New HIV Infections in Vietnam Found in Young People: Report
As many as 33% of new HIV infections in Vietnam were found in young high-risk populations, higher than the global average of 27%, local media cited data from UNAIDS 2023 HIV Estimates as reporting.
This rate put Vietnam among the seven countries with a proportion of young people among total new HIV infections higher than the regional and global average, together with Myanmar (53 %), Indonesia (48 %), Thailand and the Philippines (47 %), Cambodia (43 %), and Laos (42 %).
However, the positive note is the rate does not seem to be on an increasing trend, the newspaper quoted a UNAIDS Asia Pacific representative as noting.
In the National Strategy to End AIDS by 2030, Vietnam targets to have 90 % of all people living with HIV getting diagnosed by 2025.
Vietnam has been lauded for the significant increase in pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use in 2022, with about 51,493 people receiving PrEP at least once, up by 59 % from 2021. PrEP is seen as a key strategy for the prevention of sexual transmission of HIV.