Viet Nam is a bright spot regarding financial mechanism transformation in HIV/AIDS treatment

Assoc.Prof.Dr. Phan Thi Thu Huong, Director of the Department of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control (Ministry of Health), provided the above information at the Workshop "Ensuring financial resources and sustainably transferring anti-HIV drug treatment programs in Viet Nam" held in Nghe An.

She said Decision 2188/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister created precise mechanisms, such as centralized billing in which the insurance agency paid the supplier to secure the first phase of drug coordination.

The decision also created a cost-sharing mechanism for ARV drugs to facilitate equitable access among patient groups.

Ms Phan Thi Thu Huong suggested that provinces/cities discussed difficulties in drug use and supply management as well as guiding documents so that the HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Department had a basis for reporting to the Prime Minister and proposing the following appropriate solutions.

Since the ARV pill was prescribed by the Health Insurance Fund at treatment facilities on March 8, 2019, the average annual health insurance fund has paid for medical examination and treatment services and ARV drugs up to VND400 billion per year.

However, after three years of implementation, there have been many difficulties, especially the slow procurement of ARV drugs, which made it difficult to prescribe treatment facilities and coordinate medications from central to provinces and cities.

Thanks to the coordination of the Vietnam Social Insurance agencies with Departments in the Ministry of Health, guide documents were constantly updated to make drug supply more convenient.

At the workshop, experts shared methods of demand, management and use planning of ARV drugs and the roadmap for completing the legal basis for guiding bidding, management and use of ARV drugs in the HIV/AIDS prevention and control program./.