Hanoi (VNA) – A Ministryof Health (MoH) pilot programme to combine tuberculosis and HIVtreatments for TB/HIV co-infected patients in medical centres at district andcommune levels has yielded positive results, experts said.

The programme was first implemented from 2013 to 2015 in Nho Quan district(Ninh Binh province) and Hung Ha district (Thai Binh province). It was thenexpanded to 12 provinces in 2015-2016.

The programme aims to reduce the burdens for TB/HIV co-infected patients,caused by separated treatment systems for the two diseases which are common atmost medical establishments in the country.

According to Associate Professor Bui Duc Duong, deputy director of MoH’sDepartment for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control, TB is the most commonopportunistic infection in HIV-infected patients and is thus the leading causeof HIV death. Every year, Vietnam has about 5,500 new cases of TB/HIVco-infected patients.

However, an absence of a combined TB/HIV treatment system has forced manypatients to go back and forth between different medical establishments at thesame time for diagnosis and treatment. For example, a TB-infected patient willbe introduced to a HIV/AIDS-treated centre for test and possible treatment (incase they are HIV positive). On the contrary, a HIV/AIDS patient who issuspicious of having TB will be advised to go to a TB-treated centre.

Many patients, already feeling disgraced and hopeless about their situation,end up quitting the treatment process due to exhaustion.

The pilot programme has solved this problem, said Dr Nguyen Van Cu of theCentral Lung Hospital.

According to the preliminary results from the 12 provinces implementing thepilot programme, the proactive detection of tuberculosis infection in HIVpatients as well as the detection of HIV infection in TB patients has markedlyimproved. Now, patients can be diagnosed for both infections the first timethey go to a medical centre, instead of at least three times as before.

The programme has also increased the number of TB and HIV/AIDS co-infectedpatients simultaneously receiving treatment for both diseases.

“The number of patients quitting treatment process has reduced, while doctorsare informed of both TB-treatment and HIV-treatment processes,” Cu said.

The combined model has also helped reduce medical personnel, facility cost andother investment costs needed to offer TB and HIV/AIDS treatment services, saidAssoc Prof and Dr Le Van Hoi, Deputy Director of the Central Lung Hospital.

Besides, the quality of medical services has improved, especially in diseasedetection and early treatment.

Due to the effectiveness of the model, the Ministry of Health is ready toexpand the programme to a national scale over the next few years, according toHoi.

Several related legislative documents and technical instructions have beenpromulgated to prepare for the rollout, including the Framework for combinationof TB and HIV treatment in 2016-2020 and other documents on health insuranceschemes for HIV and TB patients.-VNA