Khanh Hoa (VNS/VNA) - Health authorities in Nha Trang city – thefamous beach tourism destination hit hard by HIV/AIDS – have made progressagainst the epidemic. However, their efforts are threatened by a lack ofadequate human resources.

The first HIV/AIDS patient in Khanh Hoa province, where Nha Trang is located,was discovered in 1993, three years after Vietnam detected its first HIV/AIDSpatient.

Khanh Hoa used to rank in the top 10 provinces for number of HIV-infectedpeople. In the 2002-03 period, it ranked as high as the second most-infected,following HCM City. But since 2012, it hasn’t made the list, said Dr Tran Van Tin,Director of the province’s HIV/AIDS Prevention Centre.

Doctors believe that in recent years, the number of both new HIV infections anddeaths has declined. Furthermore, the number of HIV-infected people beingtreated has increased so that 76 percent of all people with HIV are beingtreated at provincial health centres and hospitals.

But the prevention work faces many challenges, especially lack of humanresources for HIV/AIDS prevention. There aren’t enough health staff, doctorsand social workers, according to Dr Tran Van Tin.

Only two doctors at the provincial HIV/AIDS Prevention Centre are now in chargeof treating 350 people with HIV by methadone, and another 100 others withantiretroviral (ARV) drugs.  

In terms of funding for HIV/AIDS prevention work, Dr Tin said that in the past,the province had received about 11 billion VND from various foreign anddomestic organisations ever year. But recently, only 2.4 billion VND fromthe provincial budget has been spent on health sector every year. And since2016, there has been no funding for human resources training and development.

The HIV prevention work was extremely difficult, and the pressure to makeprogress was great, the director said. The lack of adequately traineddoctors, nurses and other health professionals required everyone to stretchthemselves thin on the job.

“I am in charge of both managing and directly treating patients, even preparingmedical file and editing text,” said Tin.

In Khanh Hoa – a province thriving in all aspects and operating with a marketeconomy, many doctors were happy to leave the district-level health centreswhen they found other jobs with higher incomes. This made it difficult for theHIV/AIDS centres to retain employees. The brain drain is a common situation notonly in the province, but also in localities across the country.

At the centre, if one or two doctors took a day off, hundreds of prescriptionsand patient files piled up and awaited their return.

In the past five years, Tin said, he has sent requests many times to theprovincial Department of Health to recruit more doctors and health staff. Whileevery year, hundreds of doctors submitted applications to Khanh Hoa’shospitals, no doctor has been sent to the centre.

“There has been great pressure for many years, the Department of Health hascalled, but still not recruited doctors for the HIV centre,” he said. “Becauseno one wants to do this dangerous job.”

Lam Quang Chung, Deputy Director of the Khanh Hoa provincial Department ofHealth, said it knew the situation of the doctor shortage in HIV centre.

Not only the HIV/AIDS Prevention Centre, but also departments of dermatology,tuberculosis, forensics, and psychiatry have been dealing with doctorshortages, Chung said.

He stressed that after the implementation of the Government’s policy onattracting human resources to rural areas, the provincial health sector wasbuilding a proposal for a long-term health worker development strategy.-VNA