Private sector’s engagement crucial for HIV/AIDS prevention, control
Due to the reduction in international funding for HIV/AIDS prevention and control, the private sector is expected to get more involved in providing treatment opportunities for people living with the virus, contributing to putting an end to the epidemic by 2030.
Health care staff gives consultations on HIV transmission prevention (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – Due to the reduction ininternational funding for HIV/AIDS prevention and control, the private sectoris expected to get more involved in providing treatment opportunities forpeople living with the virus, contributing to putting an end to the epidemic by2030.
According to head of the Department of HIV/AIDS Preventionand Control Nguyen Hoang Long, the drop in financial assistance is a considerablechallenge to HIV prevention and control.
To deal with the situation, the Ministry of Health, the USAgency for International Development (USAID) and PATH organisation havelaunched a programme to promote the engagement of the private sector in thework, he said.
Over the years, the private sector has been involved in HIVprevention and control activities, helping increase access to treatmentservices.
Since 2015, more than 140,000 people have been tested for HIVthrough support of community-based and social enterprises, while variousHIV/AIDS prevention and control programmes have been implemented with thesupport of the sector.
So far, domestic firms have successfully met 100 percent ofdemand for Methadone as well as equipment and materials to prevent theinfection, which has been delivered free to the community.
Since 2016, eight private clinics have been set up toprovide services for HIV-infected people.
K. Grin, Director of Healthy Markets Project and PATH GlobalDirector for HIV/AIDS prevention, said that the Healthy Markets Project, fundedby the USAID and implemented by PATH, has been carried out with the cooperationof the Department of the Department of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control since2014, aiming to develop the commercial market for HIV/AIDS prevention andcontrol services and goods.
Over the past five years, about 80 percent of funds forHIV/AIDS prevention and control came from foreign donors connected by PATH, shesaid, stressing the need for more domestic financial resources from the privatesector.
PATH has connected commercial, social enterprises withcommunity organisations to make up shortages of financial resources for HIV/AIDSprogrammes, she said.
Currently, 140,000 people with HIV/AIDS are receivingtreatment at public health care establishments, along with about 10,000 othersusing private facilities, including those accepting health insurance./.
A scientific conference on HIV and hepatitis-related studies of the French National Agency for Research on AIDS (ANRS) in Vietnam opened in Hanoi on June 19.
A workshop on a national campaign aiming to raise public awareness of HIV/AIDS as a communicable disease which could be prevented and controlled took place in Hanoi on August 6.
The Vietnam Administration of HIV/AIDS Control (VAAC) under the Health Ministry, the US Embassy and several international organisations held a seminar in Hanoi on August 30 to discuss the private sector’s participation in Vietnam’s HIV/AIDS prevention and control programme.
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Health care staff gives consultations on HIV transmission prevention (Photo: VNA) 
