Effective management helps curb HIV infection rate in HCM City

An official of Ho Chi Minh City’s HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Committee stated that HIV/AIDS infection rate in the community has been reduced remarkably.

An official of Ho Chi Minh City’s HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Committee stated that HIV/AIDS infection rate in the community has been reduced remarkably.The HIV/AIDS infection rate in Ho Chi Minh City is 242.09 per 100,000 people, ranking third in the country after northern Quang Ninh province whose rate is 598.58 per 100,000 people and the port city of Hai Phong, 357.38 per 100,000 people.Dr. Le Truong Giang, Vice President of the municipal HIV/AIDS committee and Vice Director of the municipal Healthcare Service, attributed the significant reduction to strict management of HIV patients at hospitals and healthcare centres and public education against social evils.Although there was a reduction in the HIV/AIDS infection rate, Ho Chi Minh City is ranked first in terms of the number of HIV/AIDS carriers.There are 17,000 HIV/AIDS patients in the city, of which 6,000 HIV positive cases have developed into full blown AIDS with 2,240 deaths.Experts warned that the real rate of HIV/AIDS infections in the city is much higher and could reach 40,000(Source: VNANET, April 2004)