Hanoi (VNA) – Hanoi has been conducting variousHIV/AIDS prevention and control activities towards the 90-90-90 goal by 2020, officials said at a regular meeting betweenthe municipal Party Committee with press agencies on November 13.

The 90-90-90 goal means 90 percent of all people living with HIV know their HIV status, 90percent of all people with diagnosed HIV receive sustained antiretroviraltherapy, and 90 percent of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy willhave viral suppression.

According to Vice Director ofthe city Department of Health Hoang Duc Hanh, the capital city will strive toreduce the ratio of people living with HIV in the community to less than 0.3percent, thus minimising HIV’s influence on the city’s socio-economicdevelopment.

A report from the departmentshowed that people diagnosed with HIV live in all districts and towns acrossthe city, with 577 out of 584 communes and wards reporting locals with HIVinfections.

As of September 30, 2019, thecity was home to 22,211 live HIV/AIDS patients.

In the first nine months of2019, the number of newly-diagnosed cases was 1,238, up 54.8 percent over thesame period last year.

The new cases were mostlymales (76.9 percent)aged from 15-25. The number of people getting the virusthrough sexual activities continued to rise from 36.2 percent in 2014 to 65.6percent in 2018 and 72.4 percent in September 2019.

Amidst the situation, withinthe city’s roadmap towards the 90-90-90 goal by 2020, the city People’sCommittee has assigned specific criteria to each locality, while strengthening communicationactivitieson the benefit of HIV tests as well as the efficiency of anti-retroviral(ARV)therapy, and the elimination of discrimination against people living withHIV/AIDS.

In the future, the city plans to continue expanding HIVtesting in the community as well as hospitals and mobile testing points, andbroadening the coverage of ARV therapy coverage through health care insurance.

La Thi Lan, Vice Directorof Hanoi Disease Control Centre, said that the city has offered rewards of upto 1.8 million VND (77.4 USD) to those who manage to persuade people livingwith HIV to receive ARV therapy.

Earlier this year, the city launched an Undetectable=Untransmittable or K=K (Khong phat hien=Khonglay truyen) campaign with a training course on communications work for thecampaign.

The communications focusedon helping healthcare staff understand the campaign to enable them tosupport HIV carriers in testing and treatment.

According to Paula Morgan, Deputy Director forthe US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as studies have shownthat people living with HIV in successful treatment with undetectable levels ofvirus cannot transmit HIV to their sex partners, stigma and discriminationtowards people living with HIV should be abolished.

She said people at high risk of HIV must gettested, and receive ARV therapy as soon as possible to prevent HIVtransmission.

Associate Prof. NguyenHoang Long, head of the Department of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control under theHealth Ministry, said nearly 140,000 patients in Vietnam are undergoing ARVtreatment, and the U=U campaign is hoped to expand the coverage of treatment.

Doctor Do Huu Thuy from the HIV/AIDSPrevention Department under the Ministry of Health said that as of December 31,2018, an estimated 250,000 Vietnamese were living with HIV, most of whomhadcontracted the disease due to sexual acts and were aged between 15 and 49.

Notably, HIV-positive cases among drug usersare increasing, especially in the homosexual community, he added.

In Vietnam, only 80 percent of HIV people know their health status while some 70percent of people diagnosed with HIV receive ARV treatment./.