Epidemiological and Programmatic Insights into Progress toward Ending AIDS by 2030: Lessons from Viet Nams HIV Response

Introduction Viet Nam has achieved one of the fastest declines in new HIV infections in the WHO Western Pacific Region. In 2020, the Government launched the National Strategy to End the AIDS Epidemic by 2030. At its midpoint in 2025, a national epidemiological and programmatic review was undertaken to assess the countrys progress and remaining challenges. Methods We conducted a review of the national HIV surveillance and programme data and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS database, focusing on four components: disease burden, prevention, testing, and treatment programmes. Results Estimated annual new HIV infections among adults declined from 14,000 (2010) to 6,117 (2024), a 57% reduction, while the number of PLHIV stabilised at 267,455 in 2024. The epidemic has shifted from being mainly among people who inject drugs (PWID) in the 1990s and early 2000s to being increasingly concentrated among men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender people (TG), who accounted for 58% of new infections in 2024. In 2024, 88% of people living with HIV (PLHIV) knew their status, 79% of those diagnosed received antiretroviral therapy (ART), and 96% of people on ART achieved viral suppression. Harm reduction outcomes were strong, with opioid substitution therapy (OST) coverage around 40% since 2020 and safe injecting practices among PWID above 90% over the last ten years. The pre-exposure prophylaxis programme expanded rapidly in recent years, reaching 17.4% of the MSM. HIV testing volume was 3.4 million in 2024, with an increasing number of confirmatory testing laboratories. HIV status awareness in 2024 was below the 80% national target for sex workers (59.0%), PWID (62.5%), and MSM (79.2%), but exceeded the target for TG (94.1%). The high rate of viral load suppression indicates strong adherence and reflects the overall quality of treatment services. Conclusions Viet Nams progress reflects two decades of sustained harm reduction among people who inject drugs, early adoption of community-led and decentralised HIV testing innovations, rapid scale-up of PrEP, and consistently high viral suppression among people on ART. These combined system and community-based approaches offer transferable lessons for other low- and middle-income countries.