Increasing HIV prevalence and injection drug use among men who have sex with men in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Vietnam has been conducting HIV/sexually transmitted infection (STI) integrated bio-behavioral surveillance surveys on men who have sex with men (MSM) as well as other key populations since 2005. Although HIV prevalence in the Vietnamese general population remains below 1%, it is expected to be much higher among MSM.Data on HIV prevalence and sexual and drug use behaviors were collected from MSM in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) in 2006 (n = 397), 2009 (n = 399) and 2013 (n = 350) using respondent-driven sampling.

Impact of a methadone maintenance therapy pilot in Vietnam and its role in a scaled-up response.

Background: As a dual response to the HIV epidemic and the high level of injecting drug use in Vietnam, the Ministry of Health (MOH) initiated a pilot methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) program in Hai Phong and Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) in early 2009. The objectives of the pilot were to provide evidence on whether MMT could be successfully implemented in Vietnam and scaled up to other localities.

Methods: A prospective study was conducted among 965 opiate drug users admitted to the pilot.

Correlation of prospective and cross-sectional measures of HIV type 1 incidence in a higher-risk cohort in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

The primary aim of this study was to estimate HIV incidence within a high-risk population in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam using both cross-sectional and prospective methodologies. A secondary aim was to develop a local correction factor for the BED and avidity index incidence assays. The research study design consisted of three phases: (1) cross-sectional, (2) prospective, and (3) BED false recent (BED FR).

Integrating palliative care into HIV outpatient clinical settings: preliminary findings from an intervention study in Vietnam.

Symptom assessment and treatment for people living with HIV (PLHIV) cannot only lead to improvements in quality of life but contribute to combination antiretroviral adherence and early detection of virologic rebound. The majority of PLHIV in Vietnam receive their care in HIV outpatient settings, whereas very few clinics provide palliative care. The Ministry of Health has called for palliative care to be incorporated into existing HIV and cancer services, but there is limited guidance regarding how to operationalize integration.

Correlates of HIV status among injection drug users in a border region of southern China and northern Vietnam.

This article presents an analysis of the correlates of HIV status among samples of injection drug users (IDUs) in Lang Son Province, Vietnam (n=348), and Ning Ming County, Guangxi Province, China (n=294), who were interviewed and tested for HIV antibody just before the start of a peer-based HIV prevention intervention in this border region. Participants were largely male, in their 20s, and single. Logistic regression analysis suggests that among Chinese IDUs, border-related factors (eg, living closer to the border, buying drugs across the border more frequently) and younger age are the best predictors of HIV positivity.