The HCM City AIDS Prevention Committee held a workshop on Friday to check HIV transmission among MSM. The Deputy Head of the Municipal Department of Health, Le Truong Giang, revealed that the HIV infection increased rapidly among MSM in Viet Nam and HCM City.

The workshop was held for MSM to teach them about safe sex, as it reduces the risks of HIV.

Le Truong suggested people to take measures for the prevention of the disease, as it could prove fatal if not prevented on time.

According to a study by Family Health International in Vietnam, it was found that around 24% of MSM used condoms during sex.

Nguyen Thi Hue of the AIDS Prevention Committee revealed that around 20,000 gays were found with HIV in the HCM City, who were in the age of 15 to 49 years. She disclosed that the actual figure could be 60,000.

Hue said that last year around 16% of them were found HIV infected. Hue said that those who tested positive for the HIV could threaten the wider community, as they can also have sex with women.

Although Dr. Hang Thi Xuan Lan, Manager of a Project for HIV Prevention among Male Sex Workers by the Centre for Life, said that many of them keep it a secret, as people discriminate among them, so it becomes difficult for them to reveal their problems in front of anyone.