Health

Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis for HIV officially launched in Hanoi

Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) service for HIV prevention was officially launched in Hanoi on April 16.
Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis for HIV officially launched in Hanoi ảnh 1A doctor gives advice to an HIV patient at the healthcare centre of Nam Tu Liem district, Hanoi (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) - Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) service for HIV prevention wasofficially launched in Hanoi on April 16.

PrEP allows people who do nothave HIV but are at substantial risk of infection to prevent HIV by taking apill every day, as part of a combination HIV prevention strategy.

Phan Thi Thu Huong, vice director of the Vietnam Administration for HIV/AIDSControl of the Ministry of Health, said PrEP is extremely effective when taken correctly, and would reduce therisk of HIV infection via unsafe sex by 90 percent or via injection drug use by70 percent.

According to vice director of the Health Department of Hanoi Hoang Duc Hanh,the service will first be provided at the Dong Da healthcare centre, Long Bienhealthcare centre, and Hanoi Medical University before it is expanded in Hanoi.

PrEP was first piloted in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in 2016. Theservice is being provided in eight clinics in Hanoi.

The Ministry of Health made it part of the direction for HIV/AIDS care andtreatment in 2017 and passed a plan to roll out the service for the 2018-2020in 2018 with the provision of free antiretroviral drugs for HIV treatment.

During this expansion period, the Vietnam Administration for HIV/AIDS Controlin coordination with projects and organizations made PrEP available at 43private and state clinics in 11 provinces and cities. Over 2,000 people areusing the service.

By the end of 2018, the number of alive HIV carriers in Vietnam was estimatedat 250,000, with 10,000 new infections found a year.

Provinces and cities reported in 2018 that HIV infections reduced significantlyin the groups of drugs addicts (from 29-30 percent to 9-10 percent) and sexworkers (from 5 percent to 3.4 percent) but rose in the group of men having sexwith men (from 7.4 percent to 11.4 percent).

It is estimated thatVietnam has around 174,000 men having sex with men (MSM) aged from 15-49,including over 30,000 in Hanoi (or 17.5 percent).

Since 2015, the World HealthOrganization has strongly recommended PrEP as an additional prevention choicefor people at substantial risk of HIV.-VNA
VNA
#Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis#PrEP#PrEP service for HIV prevention#Vietnam Administration for HIV/AIDS Control#HIV patients#HIV infection#free antiretroviral drugs for HIV treatment#HIV carriers in Vietnam#updated Vietnam news#Vietnamplus#Vietnam News Agency
Follow VietnamPlus

Related News

Rate of pregnant women tested for HIV still low

Rate of pregnant women tested for HIV still low

Ho Chi Minh City’s Paediatrics Hospital No1’s neurology and infectious diseases department has admitted children with HIV whose mothers did not have HIV tests during their pregnancy.

See more

Up to 95% of children aged 1-5 living in the city are expected to be vaccinated against measles and rubella this year. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi begins measles vaccination campaign

Hanoi commenced a measles vaccination campaign at health stations in the districts of Long Bien, Phu Xuyen, Phuc Tho, Thuong Tin, Dong Anh, Hoai Duc and Thach That and Son Tay township on October 14.

The working session on vaccine manufacturing cooperation with Sanofi on October 8.(Photo: VNA)

Vietnamese, French firms partner in vaccine production

The Vietnam Vaccine Joint Stock Company (VNVC) and Sanofi on October 8 signed a document guiding the cooperation in manufacturing some vaccines of the French pharmaceutical group in the Southeast Asian country.

Providing free health check-ups and medicine to workers. (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam, IOM foster cooperation in improving migrants’ health

The Ministry of Health (MoH) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) on September 18 signed a memorandum of understanding on strengthening cooperation in enhancing the health and quality of life of migrants, and supporting them in accessing national health systems and policies.

Doctor Jacques Ballout and a Vietnamese apprentice doctor. (Photo: VNA)

Vietnamese doctors impress French colleagues

Industriousness, enthusiasm, and smartness are the impressions that French doctors have had of their colleagues from the Vietnam – Sweden hospital in the northern province of Quang Ninh’s Uong Bi city, who are working at the Pierre Bérégovoy hospital, Nevers city of Nièvre province, under an apprenticeship programme.

Passengers at Noi Bai International Airport (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi tightens control, prevention of monkeypox

The Hanoi Department of Health has asked the city's Centre for Disease Control (CDC) to coordinate with Noi Bai International Airport and relevant units to increase monitoring to promptly detect suspected monkeypox cases at the airport and border gates, especially those returning from countries where the disease is currently spreading.

A doctor gives a dental check-up to a child at the September 7 event in the Czech Republic. (Photo: VNA)

Vietnamese in Czech Republic join hands for community health

The network of Vietnamese intellectuals and experts, the Vietnamese youths and students association, and the group of Vietnamese doctors and physicians in the Czech Republic have coordinated to offer free health check-ups and consultancy to the Vietnamese community in the country.