The Ministry of Health (MoH) organised a workshop in Hanoi on January 8 to launch a national action plan on the eradication of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, hepatitis B and syphilis in the 2018-2030. 

At the workshop (Photo: hanoimoi.com.vn)

The country is striving to eliminate the mother-to-child transmission of HIV, hepatitis B, and syphilis by 2030.

According to the MoH’s Department of Maternal and Child Health, Vietnam has an average of nearly 2 million pregnant women each year, with the HIV infection rate in pregnant women standing at 0.19 percent. As a result, up to 1,520 babies are born with HIV annually as without intervention, the mother-to-child transmission rate could reach about 40 percent.

The number of infants born with syphilis has also shown signs of increasing. However, only less than 16 percent of expectant mothers take screening tests for syphilis. 

Meanwhile, the rate of hepatitis B infection in pregnant women in Vietnam is relatively high, ranging from 9.5 percent to 13 percent. Hence, women are advised to take a test for the hepatitis B virus before pregnancy and re-take the test when they are expecting if necessary. 

Participants at the workshop also shared experiences from other countries in efforts to end the mother-to-child transmission of HIV, hepatitis B, and syphilis, as well as devised a process to carry out the national action plan in localities and proposed activities for the time ahead. 

Statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO) showed that in the Western Pacific region, about 180,000 children are infected with the hepatitis B virus annually, while 13,000 and 1,400 others are diagnosed with syphilis and HIV infections, respectively.

The WHO Western Pacific Region have devised a planning framework to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV, hepatitis B, and syphilis in the 2018-2030 period, part of a bid to contribute to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Global Strategy for Women's, Children's, and Adolescents' Health 2016-2030. In addition, the WHO advised members to build respective national action plans on the triple elimination of those diseases in 2030.–VNA