To stop the transmission of HIV, it is important to use every means possible to find and link new cases to treatment. This includes strengthening diagnoses outside of typical voluntary HIV counseling and testing sites. To do this, USAID’s Sustainable HIV Response From Technical Assistance (SHIFT) Project trains health care providers of the country’s largest healthcare facilities to deliver hospital-based and provider-initiated HIV testing and counseling. The project has trained providers from over 20 hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City to recognize at-risk individuals visiting hospitals for other reasons and ensure they receive high quality testing, counseling, confirmatory diagnoses, and connections to antiretroviral therapy (ART). These methods have identified 3,454 patients who tested HIV-positive last year in these trained hospitals; 90 percent of these individuals have started ART.

So what? USAID is helping Vietnam’s health facilities identify HIV infections among those who do not initially recognize their potential risk for transmission, and ensure those found positive enroll on ART. Both measures are essential for the country to lead a successful HIV response.