ARV medicines given to an HIV patient. (Photo: baomoi.com)Hanoi (VNA) - The NationalHospital of Tropical Diseases and the Japan International Co-operation Agency(JICA) signed a record of discussions for a cooperation project to set up abench-to-bedside system for sustainable anti-virus (ARV) and HIV prevention inVietnam.
The project will evaluate the effectiveness andsustainability of Vietnam’s HIV treatment system and analyse pre-exposurepreventive activity to reduce new cases.
The project will set up connecting systemsbetween central and local hospitals to monitor HIV treatment, discover newcases and provide early diagnosis of treatment failure and drug resistancemutations.
A system of pre-exposure (PrEP) preventivemonitors will be established to contribute to the HIV/AIDS preventionprogramme. The project plans to start in April next year and last until March2024.
Statistics showed that Vietnam has around250,000 HIV-infected people and nearly 14,000 new infections each year, rankingfourth in the Asia-Pacific region.
Funds for treatment and some tests for HIV/AIDSpatients in central-level hospitals are being provided free of charge throughinternational funding sources.
However, as Vietnam has become a middle-incomecountry, international aid has been reduced.
HIV treatment will be covered by healthinsurance and will be provided at local-level health centres, but many localhealth centres do not have experience with HIV treatment.
Patients often have to pay for their own medicalexpenses, which may affect their adherence to treatment procedures and lead toviral outbreaks and drug resistance.
In terms of preventive work, the Ministry ofHealth has issued a plan of PrEP treatment by ARV medicines for 2018-2020.
The plan will be implemented in Hanoi and someprovinces throughout the country.-VNA
VNA
