Vietnam is considered a role model in the fight against HIV/AIDS inSoutheast Asia , with the lowest rate of HIV infections, a seniorofficial has said.

The health sector has reduced the numbersof new HIV infections, HIV-to-AIDS transitions, and AIDS fatalities,Prof. Pham Manh Hung, Chairman of the Vietnam Medical Association, saidat a national scientific conference on infectious diseases and HIV/AIDSin the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on September 12.

Theimplementation of effective policies and the national HIV/AIDSprevention programme have made modern treatment options andanti-retroviral (ARV) medication widely available.

In the nearfuture, research on HIV/AIDS will focus on the epidemiology of HIV/AIDS,sexually-transmitted diseases and tuberculosis, and the basic scienceof HIV/AIDS; HIV preventative measures; medical care and treatment; andfunding.

The Chairman of the Vietnam Society of InfectiousDiseases (VSID), Associate Professor Nguyen Van Kinh, saidnewly-emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases are on the rise, suchas the deadly Ebola outbreak in Africa that has claimed over 2,000lives so far, approximately half of the total number of infectedpatients.

The Middle Eastern Coronavirus is another fatalinfectious disease, with severe respiratory symptoms that culminate indeath for 60 percent of patients.

Vietnam is seeing thereturn of Measles, Japanese Encephalitis, and Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease,he said, adding that VSID is preparing for potential outbreaks,including isolation and quarantine facilities, as well as keepingup-to-date with scientific findings and studies.

Nearly 170 scientific papers were submitted to the conference, which drew 800 national and international delegates.-VNA