The Vietnam Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in Vietnam, the Global AIDS Program of the CDC in the Asia region, and the World Health Organization (WHO) co-hosted the “Conference on Prevention, Monitoring, and Surveillance of Drug Resistance and HIV Treatment in Asia,” from March 27 to 31 in Hanoi.
More than 100 clinical epidemiology experts from Vietnam, China, Thailand, Cambodia, India, Switzerland, and the United States discussed national and regional strategies for drug resistance prevention, virus resistance, monitoring, and the situation of HIV treatment in Asia.
Asia is one of the regions with a high rate of HIV transmission globally, second only to African countries. This means that patients are at risk of drug shortages and facing drug-resistant viruses. The reason behind this is the improper use of medication, not following prescribed dosages, which complicates the efforts of patients and the healthcare systems in already resource-limited Asian countries.
To enhance the ability to respond to the pandemic, based on international experts’ experiences, Asian countries need to unify their national and regional approaches to preventing HIV treatment drug resistance; develop action plans; allocate budgets for monitoring drug resistance activities in each country; and establish technical support plans to help countries implement strategies for maximum effectiveness.
Since early 2006, Vietnam has piloted a program to monitor antiviral treatment for over 70 HIV-infected individuals in Hanoi. Since 2004, Vietnam has been one of 15 countries supported by PEPFAR to implement prevention, care, support, and treatment programs for people living with HIV. In this year alone, PEPFAR has committed to supporting HIV/AIDS prevention efforts in Vietnam with $34 million.
