HCM City (VNS/VNA) - HCM City is expected to treat nearly 4,000people with HIV/AIDS who have health insurance cards in the first quarter ofnext year, following the cessation of free treatment for all such patients inthe country, according to the city HIV/AIDS Prevention Centre.

For patients who do not have health insurance, they will continue to receivefree medicine at health facilities where they are being treated, said Dr Van Hung,the centre’s Deputy Director.

Forty health facilities that provide HIV treatment have signed contracts withthe city-based Vietnam Social Security to accept health insurance.

These facilities belong to city- and district-level hospitals, as well ashealth centres’ community counselling and support divisions.

Dr Nguyen Trung Hoa, Director of the Go Vap district Health Centre, said thatit would be providing counselling and tests as well as treatment for peoplewith HIV/AIDS.

In the first quarter of the year, the centre conducted 14,981 examinations forpeople with HIV/AIDS, including 8,614 exams for people who had health insurancethis year.

The centre has provided antiretroviral drugs to 1,481 people with HIV. More than 1,300 people with HIV/AIDS treated at the centre have healthinsurance, accounting for 88.5 percent of the total.

Dr Kim Chi Na, head of the Health Centre in District 11’s community counsellingand support division, said that it was now treating more than 2,700 people withHIV/AIDS.

The division admits 70 new cases with HIV each month, Na said, adding that mostof them are from other provinces. The division has only two doctors, but onlyone doctor is allowed to examine 65 people per day under national healthcareregulations.

The division needs to employ more doctors so that it will comply with theregulation next year when it begins providing treatment to people with HIV/AIDS.

However, because of a shortage of funds, more doctors cannot be hired, Na said.

HCM City has one private general clinic, Galant, in District 5, to treat peoplewith HIV/AIDS under health insurance coverage.

Charity health facilities which provide treatment to people with HIV/AIDS havebeen upgraded to meet the insurance coverage criteria of the Vietnam SocialSecurity.

Nearly 10 per cent of people with HIV/AIDS do not have health insurance.

The municipal People’s Committee plans to use its budget to help them buyhealth insurance cards as soon as possible.

“The city aims to treat all people with HIV/AIDS under health insurancecoverage by the end of 2019,” Hung said.

Luu Thi Thanh Huyen, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Social Security’s HCM Citybranch, said the agency would closely work with the city’s Department of Healthto ensure health care services for people with HIV/AIDS during the change oftreatment from free coverage under a national programme (that received fundsfrom international donors) to health insurance coverage.

The Ministry of Health said that insured people who use health care servicesrelated to HIV/AIDS will receive antiretroviral drugs, HIV tests and otherservices, and insured pregnant women with HIV will also receive treatment.-VNS/VNA