Female sexual partners of male people who inject drugs in vietnam have poor knowledge of their male partners' HIV status.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Vietnam's HIV epidemic is concentrated among male people who inject drugs (PWID), and their female sexual partners (SPs) may be at risk for infection. HIV prevention interventions for SPs were implemented in Hanoi, Dien Bien Province, and Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), and data from linked surveys used to evaluate these interventions offered an unusual opportunity to assess knowledge of HIV status within couples. METHODS: Linked surveys (behavioral interviews and HIV testing) among 200 PWID-SP couples in Hanoi, 300 in Dien Bien, and 249 in HCMC. RESULTS: HIV prevalence among male PWID was 53% in Hanoi, 30% in Dien Bien, and 46% in HCMC, and lower among their SPs 44%, 10%, and 37%, respectively. Comparison of SPs' beliefs regarding male PWID partners' HIV status with the PWIDs' actual test results revealed that 32% of SPs in Dien Bien and 44% in Hanoi and HCMC lacked correct knowledge of their male partners' status. This proportion was slightly lower (21%-33%) among SPs whose PWID partners reported having been previously tested and received HIV+ results. CONCLUSIONS: SP interventions reached HIV-negative women in serodiscordant relationships, and some improvements occurred in condom use and relationship characteristics. Nevertheless, our findings suggest that at least 11,000 SPs in Vietnam may be at high risk for HIV infection because of incorrect knowledge of their partners' HIV status. Interventions should be strengthened in HIV testing, disclosure, and treatment, as well as empowerment of SPs as individuals, within couples, and as communities.