Vietnam assesses HIV drug resistance

Surveillance shows that the pattern of HIV infection in Vietnam has changed significantly. Among newly discovered HIV-infected people, the proportion of people infected with HIV through sexual contact has become the main transmission route.

Bringing new drugs into health insurance coverage

The Department of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control ( Ministry of Health ) said that in 2025, with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO) and donors, the Department will assess drug-resistant HIV in Vietnam. Currently, drug-resistant HIV/AIDS patients are found in the group receiving first-line treatment regimens.

Nationwide, there are currently about 183,000 people infected with HIV being treated with ARV drugs - PHOTO: NAM SON

In Vietnam, in the adult group, 9% are using second-line drugs due to failure of first-line treatment. Further evaluation will be conducted to determine whether or not people using second-line drugs have drug resistance.

According to the HIV/AIDS Prevention Department, since 2008, Vietnam has implemented a prevention program to monitor HIV drug resistance according to WHO guidelines, and is currently monitoring and managing early warning activities on drug resistance in HIV/AIDS patients using antiretroviral drugs (ARV).

According to data in Vietnam from 2017 to 2020, the rate of acquired drug-resistant HIV (drug resistance during ARV treatment) in Vietnam is low. In 2020, the rate of drug-resistant HIV after 12 months was 2.5%; after 36 months was 4.6%; after 48 months was 3.4%.

HIV virus with drug-resistant mutant genes mainly falls into the group using the first-line treatment regimen, no drug resistance is recorded in the group using the second-line regimen as well as not yet in the group using the third-line regimen.

Regarding new HIV treatment drugs, the HIV/AIDS Prevention Department said it is always updating the new WHO regimen and has included new drugs in health insurance coverage. Currently, of the 183,000 HIV/AIDS patients receiving ARV treatment in Vietnam, more than 82% are using new drugs.

In addition, injectable PrEP (an ARV antiretroviral drug to prevent HIV infection in people at high risk but not infected with HIV, helping to prevent HIV infection up to 99%), is not currently available in Vietnam. To be put into use, this drug needs to be registered for circulation in Vietnam. The HIV/AIDS Prevention Department has worked with sponsors to pilot its use in Vietnam. The pilot results are evidence for implementation in Vietnam.

Injectable PrEP is a long-acting HIV prevention drug that is administered by injection every 2 months, while oral pills need to be taken daily. Currently, PrEP used in Vietnam is a daily pill.

The goal of ending the AIDS epidemic

In Vietnam, since the first HIV infection case was discovered in 1990 in Ho Chi Minh City, the country currently has about 267,000 people living with HIV, in 100% of provinces and cities.

In the first 9 months of 2024, the country recorded 11,421 new HIV positive cases and 1,263 deaths. Of the new cases, 82.9% were men, 40% were aged 15-29 and 27.3% were aged 30-39. The highest proportion was men who had sex with men: 42.2%.

Surveillance shows that the pattern of HIV infection in Vietnam has changed significantly. Among newly detected HIV-infected people, the proportion of people infected with HIV through sexual contact has become the main transmission route, increasing from 47.5% (in 2010) to 70.8% (September 2024).

Vietnam aims to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030. Ending the epidemic does not mean there are no new infections or deaths from AIDS, but ensuring that AIDS is no longer a serious public health problem, with criteria such as: the number of new HIV infections is less than 1,000 cases/year and the rate of mother-to-child transmission is less than 2%.

On the morning of November 29, speaking at a rally in response to World AIDS Day (December 1), Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long, Chairman of the National Committee for AIDS, Drug and Prostitution Prevention, said that Vietnam has achieved the goal of reducing the number of people infected with HIV, reducing the number of people progressing to AIDS and reducing the number of people dying from AIDS. Vietnam has joined the international community in adopting a political declaration with the goal of: "Ending inequalities and getting back on track to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030".

Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long proposed creating favorable conditions for people to access HIV/AIDS prevention services; improving professional capacity and skills and having appropriate remuneration policies for the team working in HIV/AIDS prevention.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/viet-nam-danh-gia-ve-hiv-khang-thuoc-185241130213627563.htm