Hanoi (VNA) ♚– The community advisory board (CAB) initiative aims to support the quality improvement of HIV/AIDS prevention services in Vietnam and is proving to be a game changer for related response efforts in the current period.

CABs provide clinics with input and guidance from patients regarding the design and delivery of care. Experts said the initiative is key to helping the country shorten the gap in health equality and deliver people-centred HIV services. At a September 8 annual CAB meeting, Eric Dziuban, Country Director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Vietnam (CDC), said CAB is a sustainable and responsive innovation that significantly contributes to achieving the goals of controlling the HIV epidemic and eliminating HIV stigma. He added that the model plays an important role in integrating the voices of service users and communities in the design of HIV-friendly services through its community monitoring framework. Nguyen Thi Minh Tam, head of the HIV/AIDS infection prevention office under the Ministry of Health’s department of HIV prevention and control, said the model had formed a mechanism for the community and society to submit their feedback to the epidemic response programme, particularly support services such as anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment. She stated that the department backs the implementation of CAB as it proves effective in contributing to the reduction and elimination of stigma related to HIV. CAB provides an opportunity for HIV patients and target groups to discuss their needs and initiatives for the delivery of care at the provincial level, aiming at having 95% of infected people aware of their HIV status; 95% of people diagnosed with HIV receiving anti-retroviral therapy; and 95% of people on ARV treatment achieving a viral load below the detectable threshold by 2030. Statistics from the Department of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control show there are an estimated total of 230,000 people living with HIV nationwide, of which 213,800 are reported to be still alive. The Partnership for Health Advancement in Vietnam (HAIVN) has received aid from CDC to establish and give technical support for CABs of volunteers. According to Vo Thi Tuyen Nhung, deputy head of HAIVN, CABs now consist of 81 members offering assistance to more than 41 health facilities located across six provinces of Binh Duong, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Long An, Thai Nguyen, Hai Phong, and Hanoi. In the 2021-2022 period, the total number of customers supported by CABs has exceeded 15,000 regarding the navigation of service access and the consultation of health insurance and treatment. In addition, the groups have collected more than 18,000 feedback forms serving analysis and reports at their briefings to improve service quality. CAB facilitates a critical understanding of people and puts them at the heart of the work, Dziuban said, adding that since the beginning of their operations in Binh Duong in April 2019, six CABs have contributed to pushing for better quality HIV services and changes in practice. In fact, at the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak in Vietnam, CABs played an important role in alleviating health system disruptions as their members worked to ensure the continuity of ARV and HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) treatments during lockdowns.  The CDC country director said that the success of CABs could lead to building a long-term and sustainable model of government-community cooperation that can be applied to other diseases and other environments./.