Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Corresponding Author: Gary Yu, M. HIV research in Vietnam has focused primarily on its large heroin injector population. Data on men who have sex with men [MSM], particularly the large and growing population of men who exchange sex for money or other material rewards, male sex workers [MSWs], is very limited. Assessments included demographic characteristics, substance use, sexual risk, and use of health services.
Both tobacco and alcohol are initiated at a young age and most participants currently use both substances overall across all three cities. While alcohol and tobacco use precede the initiation of sex work, stimulant and opiate use are initiated following the initiation of sex work. There was substantial overlap between substance use and sexual risk, and this overlap was strongest in sexual events involving male and female elective partners rather than sex work clients.
Although rates of HIV infection in this group are low, this may be an artifact of the young age of the sample. Vietnam reported its first case of HIV infection in HIV has spread rapidly since that time, with nearly , individuals currently living with HIV infection and 14, new infections each year Ministry of Health, The early HIV epidemic was primarily associated with the post-war shift from opium smoking to high risk heroin injection practices among injection drug users IDUs.
Although injection risk continues to contribute new infections, sexually-mediated transmission accounts for an increasing number of new infections in recent years, particularly among women Go et al. More recently, Vietnam has seen a rapid transformation of its local drug markets and this is further reshaping the HIV epidemic in a number of important ways. Once primarily dominated by heroin, a wide variety of synthetic drugs amphetamine type substances - ATS, Ecstasy, ketamine, etc.
While most of these synthetic substances are not injected, and hence do not confer the same risks for injection-mediated HIV transmission, there is nevertheless substantive concern regarding the potential for these substances to contribute to sexual risk.
