Speeches Shim
Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is the key to prolonging HIV patients’ lives, improving their health, and preventing onward HIV transmission. However, in order for this to happen, patients need to stay on treatment continuously, which can be a challenge for many of them. When ART patients stop treatment, they risk developing resistance to medication.
Last week, the BUILD-IT Annual Partners Meeting in Ho Chi Minh City officially welcomed John Wiley and Sons, E-Silicon, and Amazon Web Services to the Alliance. Additionally, partner universities, industry representatives, and government accreditation agency representatives reviewed accomplishments and agreed on goals and milestones for the coming year.
USAID’s Sustainable HIV Response from Technical Assistance (SHIFT) activity has been working diligently to enroll and retain HIV patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART). Doing so includes strengthening linkages from HIV diagnosis to treatment, expediting ART initiation, strengthening ART adherence, and streamlining patient tracking and reporting systems. From October to December 2017, USAID enrolled 735 new ART patients across 55 sites, exceeding its target by 9%.
HIV treatment services in Vietnam are mainly provided at outpatient clinics (OPC), which are usually funded by international donors. They are located either in district health centers or in hospital settings, but they are not well integrated into the public health system. As external funding phases out, these clinics must be integrated into state facilities and the social health insurance (SHI) system.
USAID has been working closely with Vietnam for years to provide support to persons with disabilities. As a result of USAID’s technical assistance and advocacy efforts, Vietnam’s Ministry of Health recently issued a decision to include additional rehabilitation services covered by health insurance, increasing the total number of covered services to 265 (from 33 in 2015). Given that many persons with disabilities have low incomes, the new coverage package will significantly help increase their access to services.
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