HIV infections remain high for male clients of sex workers

HCM CITY — The rate of new HIV infections among men who are clients of sex workers is the highest of any other target group, according to a survey issued by Population Services International (PSI) on Wednesday.

HCM CITY — The rate of new HIV infections among men who are clients of sex workers is the highest of any other target group, according to a survey issued by Population Services International (PSI) on Wednesday.

Speaking at a meeting with UNAIDS Viet Nam and the HCM City AIDS Committee, Trinh Thu Hang, deputy representative of PSI, said that more than 35 per cent of men aged 18 to 40 admitted that they had visited sex workers in the past three months.

The interviews were conducted at bars and pubs around the city over the last three months.

"If the survey had lasted six to 12 months, the number would actually be more than that," Hang said, adding estimates for the number of male clients of sex workers in HCM City range between 107,000 and 214,000.

Since 2006, the highest rate of new infection cases in the country has been among male clients of sex workers.

Two per cent of male clients are HIV-infected, the same rate that has been recorded since 2007, reflecting a steady rate of infections that have occurred each year.

These men pose a substantial risk of transmitting HIV and other sexually transmitted infections to their regular sex partners or spouses.

The PSI programme, which runs between 2007 and 2013, is sponsored by USAID and the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

The programme aims to increase males clients' consistent condom use with sex workers and with other partners.

It also offers HIV tests and advice for people who may be at a high risk of contracting the virus.

Eamonn Murphy, country director of UNAIDS Viet Nam, said the target to reduce HIV transmissions in the country had not been met in recent years.

The issue of HIV transmissions among men who have sex with men (MSM) has received little attention in HIV prevention programmes.

HCM City and Da Nang were among the first localities in the country to launch a campaign on HIV interventions among the MSM group.

Murphy said he was pleased to see that HIV issue had been included in the country's five-year socio-economic development strategy. — VNS