Nearly 1,200 Vietnamese people using PrEP to avoid HIV infection

The information was released at a review conference on preventive treatment before infection exposure, held in Ho Chi Minh city on May 29^th. The project has been carried out by the Vietnam Administration of HIV/AIDS Control (VAAC) under the Ministry of Health, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Ms. Mei Mei Peng, Deputy Director from USAID, said that the project providing PrEP service has been under pilot implementation in Vietnam since March 2017 with a focus on providing PrEP for those at high risk of HIV infection, including men who have sex with men, transsexual women and HIV-negative partners of people living with HIV.

The provision of PrEP has been carried out in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city through public and private outpatient consulting rooms and community organizations. So far, 1,200 people at high risk of HIV infection have been using PrEP.

If PrEP is used daily under the prescription, it can help reduce HIV infection danger from 92-99% in people at high risk of HIV infection. Since 2015, WHO has advised using PrEP as part of the comprehensive HIV prevention strategy among those at high risk of HIV infection.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Hoang Long, Head of the VAAC said that this is an effective HIV infection prevention measure in order to help Vietnam to stop the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2030.

In the coming time, the nation will expand provision of PrEP to 11 localities to reach 5,610 people at high risk of HIV infection by the end of 2019 and about 7,300 people by the end of 2020./.