Challenges in HIV/AIDS treatment

According to the provincial Center for Disease Control, the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Ca Mau is still complicated. The HIV infection rate among homosexuals (MSM) has increased rapidly in recent years with a high infection rate. In some districts, the number of people infected with HIV detected each year tends to increase, especially in coastal districts. The HIV/AIDS epidemic is at risk and tends to return if it is not properly invested in to implement strong and effective intervention measures. Along with that, prevention and treatment work still faces many difficulties.

HIV/AIDS is currently a public health issue, still one of the disease burdens in Vietnam. The cumulative number of HIV+ continues to increase, with over 3,000 infected people needing regular, continuous, lifelong care and treatment. Each year there are still over 300 new HIV+ cases and over 500 deaths due to HIV/AIDS, causing huge impacts on health, economy and society.

A working group from the American AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) conducted a field survey at Ca Mau Provincial General Hospital.

Ms. Truong Kim Ut, Deputy Head of the HIV/AIDS Prevention Department, Provincial Center for Disease Control, said: “Access to HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment services for high-risk groups is still limited. Currently, the province has only 5 outpatient facilities for HIV/AIDS treatment (4 hospitals and 1 prison). The specific characteristics of HIV/AIDS patients are that they must be cared for and treated for life. Currently, the province is treating 1,772 HIV/AIDS patients and more than 200 patients with Methadone. However, the need for care and treatment of patients is still very large while most of the human resources have to work part-time, and investment resources for HIV/AIDS prevention and control are increasingly reduced, causing difficulties for implementation.”

Along with that, the HIV/AIDS prevention and control system from the province to the communes, wards and towns has been consolidated and improved, but there are always changes in personnel; the capacity in the field of HIV/AIDS prevention and control of officers participating in the program at the district and commune and ward levels is still limited, and there are no truly specialized officers for the district level.

The province's HIV/AIDS prevention and control budget for the 2015-2020 period depends heavily on international aid. In recent years, the main source of aid funding has been the Global Fund project. Financial resources in the province have not been sufficient to finance key activities, and there is a risk of serious shortages if the project stops supporting. Health insurance has participated in paying for HIV/AIDS treatment, but activities in the fields of testing, communication, harm reduction intervention, HIV infection prevention, and HIV/AIDS epidemic surveillance still rely mainly on aid, and there is no sustainable financial mechanism in the province for these areas.

Regarding HIV/AIDS prevention and control activities in Ca Mau, the American AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) recently had a working trip to Ca Mau. Within the framework of expanding the HIV/AIDS Care and Treatment Support Project in Vietnam for the period 2023-2027, AHF plans to support the HIV/AIDS testing and treatment program in Ca Mau in the coming time.

Mr. Kieu Thanh Binh, Care and Treatment Coordinator (AHF Vietnam), said: "The overall goal of this expansion project is to promote HIV/AIDS testing and treatment activities to reduce the number of new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths, ending the AIDS epidemic in Vietnam by 2030".

Specifically in Ca Mau, the project will support the locality in many important activities. These include supporting HIV counseling, testing and ARV treatment services at Ca Mau Provincial/City General Hospital and Cai Tau Prison to increase the detection of new HIV cases and transfer them to ARV treatment; supporting regular medical examinations for patients and monitoring their health status, treating opportunistic infections and providing preventive treatment for patients at the clinics of Ca Mau Provincial/City General Hospital and Cai Tau Prison; implementing campaigns to distribute condoms and conduct free mobile HIV testing in the community.

In addition, when the project is implemented in Ca Mau, all conditions will be created to support necessary equipment for testing, medical examination and treatment, data storage, patient management on software... At the same time, AHF will unify the guidance on the management process and use of treatment drugs with the desire to improve the quality of HIV/AIDS management and treatment in the locality./.

Van Dum

Source link