Ho Chi Minh City is set to convert a detoxification center into a hospital providing free HIV/AIDS treatment and care this month. It would be the first hospital of its kind in Vietnam, Nguyen Thanh Tai, vice chairman of the city people’s committee, said. The 600-bed hospital, to be named Nhan Ai (Compassion), will be run by the Health Department and will provide HIV-positive people free treatment and care worth $75 to $94 a month.
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Ho Chi Minh City
It would be the first hospital of its kind in
The 600-bed hospital, to be named Nhan Ai (Compassion), will be run by the Health Department and will provide HIV-positive people free treatment and care worth $75 to $94 a month.
It now houses 150 HIV-positive people and plans to accept more HIV-positive people from other centers in the country.
Health experts estimate that there are about 40,000 to 50,000 HIV-positive people in the city, almost a sixth of the national total.
Although HIV prevalence in the country is below 0.5 percent, the rate has risen to 1.2 percent in
CSIS also said more than half the reported HIV carriers were intravenous drug users, mostly heroin addicts.
(Source: VietnamNews)
