The action month taking place from November 11 to December 10 has the theme of Early HIV test – Committing to 90-90-90 treatment targets by 2020, said Deputy Head of the Department Hoang Dinh Canh stressing the benefit of early HIV test.
The 90-90-90 HIV treatment targets are the latest initiative by the Joint United Nations Program on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), which aims to have 90 percent of all people living with HIV knowing their HIV status, 90 percent of all people diagnosed with HIV infection receiving sustained ARV therapy, and 90 percent of all people under ARV therapy having viral suppression treatment by the year 2020.
According to a finding, around 50,000 people living with HIV across the country are unaware of their HIV status; accordingly, they may pass it on their partners and the community without realizing it because they did not receive consultation and get access to healthcare services.
Early HIV testing can help preventing transmission to other people; moreover, people who are HIV-positive can now live longer, healthier lives if they take antiretroviral treatment.
He added that most medical clinics in the country are able to conduct HIV testing for early detection of HIV virus. Moreover, mobile tests are also conducted because testing procedure is simple at present.
Statistically, in first nine months of the years, more than 6,880 HIV-positive people had been reported, down 14 percent compared to same period last year; over 3,480 AIDS patients had been found and 1,260 of them succumbed to the disease.
Noticeably, around 122,430 people living with HIV are taking ARV drug, up 6,000 patients than previous year.
