Vietnam expects to receive more support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in the prevention and fight against HIV/AIDS, Deputy Minister of Health Truong Quoc Cuong said. Deputy Minister Cuong made the proposal at a meeting with a USAID delegation led by its Deputy Administrator Bonnie Glick in Hanoi on October 31. Mr. Cuong called for more USAID assistance in (i) transferring HIV/AIDS treatment to the healthcare insurance fund, (ii) reforming financial mechanisms in preventing and easing harms of HIV/AIDS in particular and the health sector in general, and (iii) building more cost-effective initiatives, models to soon achieve the 90-90-90 target by 2020, moving toward eliminating AIDS in Vietnam by 2030. Ms. Bonnie Glick said the USAID started supporting Vietnam in HIV/AIDS prevention and fighting in 1990. In 2015, Vietnam became the 15th countries worldwide to receive aids from the U.S. government via the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Vietnam annually records around 10,000 new HIV/AIDS cases. As of October 18, Vietnam had 209,900 people infected with HIV, including 96,960 people entering AIDS stage, while around 98,450 people had been killed by HIV/AIDS. (Bo Y Te, moh, tiengchuong)
