It is estimated that each month 800 Vietnamese people become infected with HIV, said Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien at a workshop on HIV/AIDS in Hanoi.
The workshop was held by the National Committee for Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS, Drugs and Prevention on June 13 to review the efforts from the first half of the year and to set up tasks for the remainder of 2014.
Health Minister cum deputy chairwoman of the committee Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said that though the number of new HIV-infected cases and deaths decreased, it is still higher than same period last year. Most of new cases are living in the northern mountainous regions.
Drug addicts have been most affected by HIV and the process is still going on. The country has around 18,000 drug-addicts at present. The Ministry will import additional 21,000 liter of methadone for treatment of drug addicts.
The Ministry will certify five pharmaceutical companies to produce methadone which is used as a pain reliever and as part of drug addiction detoxification.
