New type HIV infection warning

HIV/AIDS epidemic in Vietnam is having many complicated developments with a significant change in the form of infection.Among those who are new to HIV infection, the male group of homosexual sex (MSM) is the main source of infection.

More than 80% of new infected people are men

Assoc.Vong.Among those who have just discovered HIV infection from the beginning of the year, 82.9%are men, the main age is 15-29 (40%) and 30-39 (27.3%).

In Vietnam, since the first infection was discovered in 1990 in Ho Chi Minh City, the whole country had about 267,000 people living with HIV with 100% of provinces and cities to record cases.Notably, nearly 70%of new HIV infections are concentrated mainly in the Mekong Delta region (31.2%), the Southeast (12.8%) and Ho Chi Minh City (24.3%);Age 15-29 tends to increase.

Ms. Huong said that HIV/AIDS translation is still complicated.In recent years, the form of HIV transmission has changed markedly - from blood transmission in the drug -in -pham drug addict to sexually transmitted, especially in the MSM group.This group accounts for a large proportion of new HIV -infected people with more than 40% of annual discoveries.However, these people still have to receive discrimination from the community, do not dare to publicize themselves so it is difficult for them to access HIV infection services.

"The concern is that the rejuvenation of HIV -infected people. Some provinces and cities have discovered infected people in adolescents, students in grades 10 and 11. They said they had sex with copper sex.Gender or used to use synthetic drugs.

Experts predict the number of HIV people in the MSM group continues to increase in the near future.The reason is that this group's characteristics live evenly in provinces and cities, difficult to access in the region as for drug addicts before.Social networks developed with associations and groups for people who need to have sex with homosexual sex, making it easy for them to find and interact with many partners.Recent studies also show that female transgender people are one of the groups that have been warned of the risk of HIV infection and have increased in recent years.

In addition, studies also show that the trend of infection in provinces and cities is not the key also starts to increase.Accompanied by complicated risks such as using synthetic drugs, "chemsex" (using substances during sex) and collective sex.This not only spreads HIV but also transmits sexually transmitted diseases, hepatitis B, C ..., increasing the burden on the health sector.

Moreover, MSM is not afraid of pregnancy, so the use of condoms - one of the contraceptive measures - is not as focused as sex between men and women.In addition, some people in this group may have collective sex, many partners.They also tend to use stimulants such as drugs, alcohol, beer ... to increase pleasure and find a different feeling ..., leading to loss of safety control.Besides, there may be strong acts of relationships leading to higher damage.

In many cases, they do not know about their partners, especially health.There are people with many overlapping risks, such as injecting drugs, there are many partners of both men and women, often changing their partners and can be accompanied by other sexually transmitted diseases ...

Efforts to block the disease, spread

According to Ho Chi Minh City Control Center (HCDC), each year the city records about 4,000 - 5,000 new HIV infections.In particular, the number of HIV -infected people from other provinces and cities to Ho Chi Minh City has surpassed the number of cases from local people.

"Although the infection rate in the group of drug injections and prostitutes is significantly reduced, the number of infections in the MSM group is still high," said Dr. Van Hung, Head of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Department.

A study of HIV -syphilis incidence and some related factors in the MSM group showed that the Mekong Delta region recorded about 50,277 people infected with HIV, accounting for 21.1% of the total number of people infected nationwide..In particular, An Giang, Can Tho and Kien Giang have the highest rate.

Dr. Nguyen Duy Phuc, Pasteur Institute of Ho Chi Minh City (member of the research team), said the study was conducted from 2015 to 2022 with 2,938 MSM in the three localities mentioned above, the average age was 25.3.The results showed that the MSM group always accounted for a high proportion of the new HIV infection.Specifically, in Can Tho is 49.3%, Kien Giang 31.6%and An Giang 20.3%.

The research results also show that unprotected sex, especially not using condoms, is a high risk factor leading to HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases."Therefore, it is necessary to continue maintaining and strengthening the distribution of free condoms to the MSM group to promote safe sexual behavior, minimize the risk of infection," Dr. Phuc recommends.

In order to contribute to expanding access to HIV prevention services, Ho Chi Minh City has received support from the USAID/Path Steps project.The city has more than 4,000 Prep (Pre -exposure Prevention) customers at 9 private clinics and 4 public clinics.

The project also successfully tested new models, such as mobile Prep, cooperating with social enterprises aimed at the end of the AIDS translation by 2030. The project will continue to develop Prep models and Prep models,Including partial forms of payment and commercial Prep, in order to ensure that HIV prevention services are always maintained and sustainably developed.

The health sector of Ho Chi Minh City continues to accompany the partner to implement the pilot Prep models to pay and strengthen consulting activities, guiding the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases.The goal is not only to stop HIV transmission but also help the community to avoid other sexually transmitted diseases.

In addition, service providers and projects will continue to maintain and develop HIV prevention models effectively.Everyone, especially high -risk groups, will have the opportunity to access quality health care services.