A boy takes a nap at the Tam Binh Care Center for HIV-afflicted Children in Thu Duc District, Ho Chi Minh City.

More than half or over 4,100 of the country’s 8,131 new HIV/AIDS cases were detected in Ho Chi Minh City between January and June, of which 742 cases had died.

Hanoi reported 1,056 new HIV cases, followed by Thai Nguyen Province with 434 cases and Dien Bien Province with 304 cases, according to a report by the Vietnam Administration of Aids Control (VAAC) at the conference.

Le Thanh Long, the VAAC head, said new HIV cases have reduced by 38 percent year-on-year while big cities were worst affected.

Some remote villages had reported their first cases, he said.

Transmission by blood was the major cause of infections in the north, while a majority of cases in the south were sexually transmitted, according to the report.

The new cases have brought the country’s total of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) to 149,653 as of June 30, including 32,400 AIDS patients.

Among PLHIV, HCMC has the highest number with 41,300 cases, followed by Hanoi with 15,400 cases and Hai Phong with 6,486 cases.

Statistics show 176 people out of 100,000 have contracted HIV/AIDS.

Source: Thanh Nien