Speeches Shim
Over the last three years, the USAID Global Health Supply Chain - Procurement and Supply Management (GHSC-PSM) project has supported the Vietnam Administration for HIV/AIDS Control and the Vietnam Social Security to quantify and procure Antiretroviral (ARV) drugs through Vietnam’s Social Health Insurance (SHI) program. Now that ARVs will be steadily available through SHI, from March 2019, USAID collaborated with local and international ARV suppliers to facilitate their registration of 90 and 180 count ARV pill bottles in Vietnam through its advocacy efforts and technical support for their preparation of registration dossiers.
On November 13, the Government of Vietnam officially launched the National Action Centre for Toxic Chemicals and Environmental Treatment (NACCET) - a national agency to coordinate internal and external efforts on remedies of war aftermaths. NACCET has been assigned as the prime counterpart for USAID’s disabilities project in Vietnam. USAID is currently negotiating a $65 million grant agreement with NACCET for the next five years of disabilities programming. Under this agreement, USAID will help NACCET and Vietnamese organizations improve their capacity to implement and manage activities that will benefit millions of local people with improved rehabilitation, health and social services, as well as enforcement of disability regulations.
Social Health Insurance (SHI) is an important resource for PLHIV in Vietnam to meet their HIV treatment needs as the country transitions from donor-funded to locally-supported HIV activities. However, some PLHIV are unable to make copayments for antiretroviral (ARV) treatment as required in the SHI system. It is critical for provinces to mobilize their own local resources to subsidize these co-payments. Even though Hanoi had allocated sufficient funds to subsidize the cost of copayments for HIV patients, there was no clarity on how these funds would be disbursed. To help address this issue, the USAID Sustainable Financing for HIV project facilitated dialogues to reach a consensus among key government agencies about their respective subsidy implementation roles. As a result, on October 28, Hanoi Social Security issued an Official Dispatch that clearly defines how the copayment subsidy should be implemented.
Universal design is the design of buildings, products, or environments to make them accessible to all people, regardless of age, disability, or other factors. On November 15, USAID’s Raising Voices Creating Opportunities activity facilitated a national consultation workshop on Universal Transportation Design Criteria in Vietnam. This workshop created a platform for the National Coordination Committee on Disabilities; the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs; the Transport Development Strategy Institute; and the Ministry of Transportation (MOT) to discuss the development of transportation design criteria in Vietnam.
In March, Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue directed the General Department of Vietnam Customs (GDVC) to work with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) to conduct and publish surveys on the time needed for completing administrative procedures and customs clearance as well as business satisfaction using Vietnam’s National Single Window (NSW) system, a one-stop shop for customs clearances.
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