At a working session with the agency on February 4, Mr Trong said the HIV/AIDS epidemic is still growing in Vietnam, especially among high-risk groups such as drug addicts and prostitutes.

He asked the medical sector to put in place plans of action within the national strategy for HIV/AIDS prevention and control, and give top priority to preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission.

He proposed that the sector make effective use of foreign aid to reduce HIV infections among children and provide ARV to poor HIV/AIDS carriers.

Minister of Health Nguyen Quoc Trieu reported that Vietnam currently has a total of nearly 157,000 people living with HIV across the country, of whom around 34,400 have developed full blown AIDS. More than 44,000 have died of the deadly disease.