An HIV patient receives free antiretroviral (ARV) drugs at District 11’s Medical Centre in HCM City. Photo: VNA)HCM City (VNA) - Toensure delivery of HIV treatment services, the health sector in Ho Chi MinhCity is accelerating coverage of health insurance for HIV patients asdonor funding for antiretroviral (ARV) drugs and treatment will end in a fewyears now that Vietnam has reached lower middle-income status as classifiedby the World Bank.
The supply of ARV drugs funded by internationaldonors is expected to be used up by the end of next year, said Nguyen Huu Hung,deputy director of the city’s Department of Health.
Health insurance will have to cover the cost ofARV drugs starting in early 2019, Hung said at a conference held on October 18in HCM City.
The city’s Department of Health has told medicalcentres in all districts to establish general clinics to provide health examinationsand treatment for insured HIV patients.
However, medical centres in several districtsare ineligible to establish general clinics because of a lack of specialiseddoctors and medical equipment.
Pham Thi Kim Hoa, director of Can Gio district’sMedical Centre, said that its public health consulting and support departmenthad long been responsible for providing free health check-ups and treatment forHIV patients.
The public health consulting and supportdepartment, however, is not eligible to sign contracts with social insuranceagencies to provide health check-ups and treatment for insured HIV patients.
Therefore, the centre has to set up a generalclinic which has legal rights to sign contracts with social insurance agencies,according to Hoa.
The centre said it had sought approval forsetting up a general clinic, but it was refused because of it lackedspecialised doctors, she said.
It plans to transfer treatment of 112 patientsto Can Gio Hospital by the second quarter of next year.
District 1’s Medical Centre is in the samesituation as it is struggling to set up a general clinic to provide health careservices for HIV patients with insurance cards, said Nguyen Van The, directorof the centre.
Lack of medical equipment and doctors, amongother reasons, have made it impossible for the centre to establish a generalclinic, according to The.
Around 1,200 HIV patients are being treated atDistrict 1’s Medical Centre, he said.
Tieu Thi Thu Van, director of the HCM CityHIV/AIDS Prevention Centre, has proposed setting up HIV-treatment clinics atdistrict-level hospitals instead of general clinics at medical centres.
Under the proposal, district hospitals wouldsign contracts with social insurance agencies to provide health care servicesfor HIV patients with health insurance cards.
More than 31,000 HIVpatients in HCM City receive regular examinations and treatment at medicalcentres. -VNA
