Vietnam receives thousands of vials of ARV drugs, ensuring medicine for people with HIV

Ministry of Health receives ARV drugs to treat HIV-infected patients - Photo: Ministry of Health

According to the Department of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control, Vietnam currently has a total of over 178,000 patients receiving ARV treatment, of which about 130,000 are receiving ARV treatment using the TLD regimen (Tenofovir/Lamivudine/Dolutegravir 300/300/50mg).

TLD drugs for treating HIV-infected people are provided from two sources. One is health insurance. The other is the Global Fund for Aid for cases that cannot be covered by health insurance, such as cases receiving ARV treatment in prisons, detention centers, and HIV-infected people whose health insurance cards have been interrupted.

Recently, due to some problems in the procurement process related to bidding regulations under the new law, the procurement of TLD drugs was delayed compared to the plan.

Recently, instead of receiving enough ARV drugs to last three months, many HIV-infected patients in the stable treatment group only received drugs for one month, or even two weeks, causing many to worry about treatment interruption.

To ensure that HIV-infected patients receive ARV treatment covered by health insurance without interruption of medication, on June 20, the Ministry of Health received 65,000 vials of TLD medicine donated by the Australian Government through cooperation with WHO.

To date, 5 provinces and cities in urgent need of TLD treatment, including Hanoi, Thanh Hoa, Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho and Ben Tre, have received 50,000 vials of TLD. The remaining 15,000 vials will continue to be provided in the following week of June.

In addition, nearly 100/486 HIV/AIDS treatment facilities have signed drug procurement contracts with the winning bidder.

It is expected that by the end of July 2024, 483,000 vials of TLD medicine will be provided by the contractor to medical facilities, the remaining amount of medicine will continue to be purchased and provided by the Ministry of Health in September.

In the coming time, the Ministry of Health will continue the strategy of expanding same-day ARV treatment and rapid ARV treatment for all detected HIV cases. At the same time, it will continue to remove obstacles in the process of purchasing ARV drugs to maintain the supply of ARV drugs, ensuring continuous ARV treatment for HIV-infected patients.

"For people with HIV, ARV is breath"

Mr. Nguyen Anh Tu, youth program coordinator at the Vietnam Network of People Living with HIV, shared that for people living with HIV, ARV drugs are like breathing. ARV drugs have helped people living with HIV have good health and be able to study, work, and contribute to the community and society in a better way.

"We understand that beside us, there is always the Ministry of Health and friends from countries around the world standing side by side with us to fight against this disease of the century. We encourage patients to comply with treatment according to the instructions and directions of medical staff; participate in health insurance to maintain treatment," said Mr. Tu.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/viet-nam-tiep-nhan-hang-ngan-lo-thuoc-arv-dam-bao-thuoc-cho-nguoi-nhiem-hiv-20240621155853854.htm