Perfecting and consolidating the unified and consistent tuberculosis prevention and control system

(Chinhphu.vn) - On the morning of April 8, at the Government Headquarters, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha chaired the Conference on deploying the work in 2024 of the National Committee on ending tuberculosis.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha requested the Ministry of Health to clarify the difficulties, challenges, outbreak risks and treatment burden if there are no effective solutions to control and repel tuberculosis - Photo: VGP/Minh Khoi

The Deputy Prime Minister requested the Committee members to focus on an accurate, comprehensive, and scientific assessment of tuberculosis in Vietnam today; whether the capacity for prevention, testing, and treatment has met the goal of controlling and eventually ending tuberculosis; clarify new risks to tuberculosis prevention and control such as drug-resistant tuberculosis, detecting new infections, etc., and propose solutions.

About 40% of TB cases are latent in the community.

Reporting at the meeting, Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan said that the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that in 2022, Vietnam will have 172,000 new cases of tuberculosis and about 13,000 deaths from tuberculosis, ranking 11th out of 30 countries with the highest number of tuberculosis and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patients globally. The tuberculosis epidemic in Vietnam remains very complicated, especially after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of tuberculosis patients detected, treated and reported annually only accounts for about 60% of the estimated number of tuberculosis patients. The rate of tuberculosis patients completely cured is over 90%, and drug-resistant tuberculosis is 75%.

Notably, there are currently about 40% of latent TB cases in the community that have not been detected, along with 2% of drug-resistant TB patients, which are the main cause of spread in the community. Nearly 30% of Vietnamese people have been exposed to TB bacteria.

Currently, the Vietnam National Tuberculosis Control Program is implementing comprehensive interventions to increase early detection, especially in high-risk groups (prisoners, the elderly, children, people with HIV); applying advanced techniques, treatment regimens, and the latest drugs.

Regarding some difficulties in tuberculosis prevention and control, Director of the Central Lung Hospital Dinh Van Luong said that 12/63 provinces and cities do not have tuberculosis and lung disease hospitals, leading to a lack of specialized personnel to implement tuberculosis prevention interventions. Meanwhile, the district-level health care model is not uniform in 63 localities, causing difficulties in implementing payment for tuberculosis drugs and tuberculosis examination services from health insurance.

There is a shortage of medical staff specializing in tuberculosis prevention and control, and policies are limited. International aid funding for tuberculosis prevention and control activities tends to decrease while local budgets for this activity are still limited.

Public awareness of tuberculosis has improved but is still erroneous and incomplete. Most patients are poor, and there is still stigma and inferiority complex…

Experts say tuberculosis is a public health issue that requires the participation of the whole society - Photo: VGP/Minh Khoi

Need to break the conventional epidemiological 'trajectory' of tuberculosis

At the meeting, Prof. Dr. Tran Van Sang (former Head of the Department of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases, Hanoi Medical University) said that tuberculosis is a public health issue, so together with the lung and tuberculosis hospital system, the participation of all people is needed to end this disease. Accordingly, the most important requirement is early detection, outpatient treatment at the facility and a monitoring network for tuberculosis patients to be completely cured.

"This is also an advantage for Vietnam when it has a grassroots tuberculosis prevention network with a strong commitment from the Government," Mr. Tran Van Sang emphasized.

Sharing the same view, Prof. Dr. Dinh Ngoc Sy, former Director of the Central Lung Hospital, said that if we only optimize current TB prevention and control activities, implement universal health coverage and social protection, the rate of new TB cases will decrease but we cannot achieve the set goal of controlling and ending TB in Vietnam.

According to Mr. Dinh Ngoc Sy, it is necessary to break the conventional epidemiological "orbit" of tuberculosis through promoting research, applying science and technology, synchronously applying new vaccines, new drugs, and new treatment regimens.

Meanwhile, Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Duong Anh Duc said that it is necessary to focus strong resources and conduct in-depth epidemiological investigations in the community to create fundamental changes in tuberculosis prevention and control. In the coming time, Ho Chi Minh City will focus on screening and investigating tuberculosis epidemiology among students.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha assigned the Ministry of Health to prepare human resources and medical equipment to conduct a nationwide survey on the tuberculosis situation in 2025 - Photo: VGP/Minh Khoi

Health insurance coverage for all tuberculosis patients

Concluding the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha requested the Ministry of Health to continue updating information and data systematically and accurately on the tuberculosis situation in Vietnam (rate of new cases detected, treatment effectiveness, number of deaths, etc.); recommendations from international organizations; actual mobilization of resources from the State, society, and international organizations, etc.

From there, the Ministry of Health comprehensively and carefully assessed the results of implementing the goals set for tuberculosis prevention and control when Vietnam is still among the 30 countries with the highest burden of tuberculosis costs in the world.

In particular, the Deputy Prime Minister requested the Ministry of Health to clearly identify the difficulties, challenges, outbreak risks and treatment burdens if there are no effective solutions to control and repel tuberculosis.

In the coming time, the Deputy Prime Minister said that the top priority of the Ministry of Health is to issue regulations and professional guidelines on the prevention, detection and treatment of tuberculosis patients from the grassroots to the central level. This is the basis for assigning tasks and determining human resource needs in medical facilities, hospitals, schools, specific areas (prisons, drug rehabilitation facilities, reformatories), etc. to perfect and consolidate the apparatus and organize a unified and consistent tuberculosis prevention and control system throughout the country.

Regarding financial resources, the Deputy Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Health to urgently research methods, technical standards, unit prices for detection, testing, treatment regimens, etc. to serve as a basis for health insurance payments, or to allocate from the State budget, and mobilize social resources for activities under the tuberculosis prevention and control program.

"The Ministry of Health will coordinate with the Vietnam Social Security and the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs to study a plan to pay for tuberculosis testing costs as well as health insurance coverage for all tuberculosis patients," the Deputy Prime Minister directed, noting that centralized bidding must be carried out to ensure adequate medicine, supplies, and medical equipment for tuberculosis prevention and control.

The Deputy Prime Minister also assigned the Ministry of Health to prepare human resources and medical equipment to conduct a nationwide survey on the tuberculosis situation in 2025; update and supplement the situation and tasks of tuberculosis prevention and control to promptly report and recommend to competent authorities stronger, more drastic and effective solutions; promote international cooperation, transfer rapid and mass testing technology for tuberculosis, along with the latest treatment regimens, combined with traditional medicine; develop applications (apps) for tuberculosis patients...

The Deputy Prime Minister requested press and media agencies to increase propaganda, raise people's awareness of tuberculosis, and proactively conduct screening and prevention. Associations of the elderly, women, youth, farmers, etc. need to become the core in implementing the tuberculosis prevention program in localities.

Minh Khoi - Government Portal

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