Coordinated actions key for progress in AIDS fight

The State Council, or the Cabinet, released its fourth five-year national action plan for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment on Sunday, outlining the challenges the country faces in the fight against this deadly disease and providing guidelines for targeted actions at both official and grassroots levels.

While the national prevalence of HIV is low, at 0.06 percent according to the World Health Organization, it is concentrated in specific areas and populations.

Among the worsening problems is the increasing number of sexually transmitted infections in men as a result of male-to-male sexual transmission, and the fast-increasing rate of infections among young people. The infection rate among 15- to 24-year-olds increased 13 percent a year on average from 2011 to 2015, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.