The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) in Vietnam has coordinated with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in Vietnam and the Center for Women and Development to organize the program "Event in response to World AIDS Day 2023".
The theme of this year's World AIDS Day and National Action Month for HIV/AIDS prevention and control emphasizes the innovative role and importance of the contributions of the community of people living with HIV, people at high risk of HIV infection and affected by HIV in the country's common efforts to control the HIV epidemic and achieve the national goals of ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030, so that HIV and AIDS will no longer be a threat to public health.
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| Scene of the event in response to World AIDS Day 2023. (Source: UN Women in Vietnam) |
Data reported by Vietnam’s HIV prevention and control program in recent years shows that there are worrying gender-related issues in HIV prevention and control. The HIV epidemic among men who have sex with men and transgender women is on the rise.
Sexual transmission of HIV accounts for more than 80% of all new HIV infections detected in 2021-2023, of which the group of wives and partners of men living with HIV and men with high-risk behaviors for HIV infection accounts for a significant proportion. The number of newly detected HIV infections is getting younger, with adolescents aged 16-29 accounting for about 50%.
The prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV also faces many challenges, with HIV treatment coverage for pregnant women living with HIV decreasing since 2020.
Young women, especially those in high-risk groups for HIV infection, continue to be disproportionately affected by a lack of knowledge and understanding of HIV, with less than 50% of women aged 15-49 having a correct and comprehensive understanding of HIV prevention, and this rate is much lower among women aged 15-24.
Nearly a quarter of transgender women said they had experienced discrimination in their community related to their HIV status.
Despite many difficulties and challenges, community networks have made continuous efforts, not only supporting each other but also making significant contributions to the national response to HIV.
Networks and self-help groups of HIV-vulnerable women provide outreach services, screening and testing advice, and connect women in need to HIV prevention, care and treatment, and other related services.
The event is an opportunity to share and discuss priority issues for women vulnerable to HIV, and also to introduce and disseminate evidence of the efforts of groups of women living with HIV in supporting health care, creating livelihoods and preventing and combating gender-based violence against women.
Discussions with experts and in-depth discussions at the event helped to collect recommendations from all stakeholders, to identify necessary actions in the coming time, to further promote the role and extremely meaningful contributions of community groups, towards the goal of leaving no woman behind in the efforts to implement Vietnam's Sustainable Development Goals, including the goal of ending AIDS by 2030 and the goal of Gender Equality.
| World AIDS Day is an international holiday celebrated on December 1 every year to raise awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection and to remember those who have died of HIV/AIDS. |
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