HIV/AIDS treatments to be covered by health insurance from August 15

From August 15, treatments for HIV/AIDS patients who have health insurance will be paid in accordance with the current regulations for health insurance.

 

Illustration: Huu Chi

This is one of the contents prescribed in Circular No.15/2015/TT-BYT by the Ministry of Health (MoH) on guiding implementation of medical examination and treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS, and people who use healthcare services related to HIV/AIDS.

Accordingly, from August 15 when the Circular comes into force, health insurance holders living with HIV/AIDS will be covered for healthcare services including anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment; chemical treatment; medical supplies; technical services; HIV testing for HIV-infected pregnant women and delivery under professional requirements; and medical services for babies born to HIV-positive mothers, among others.

 

However, the health insurance fund will not cover medical costs for cases that receive payment from the State budget such as national target programs, ODA projects, or other legal resources.

 

According to Nguyen Hoang Long, Head of the Administration for HIV/AIDS Control under the MoH, the number of people with HIV/AIDS that bought health insurance is still very small.

 

With the first case discovered in Ho Chi Minh City in 1990, Vietnam is now home to 227,144 living HIV carriers residing in all 63 provinces and cities, as of June 2015.

 

At present, 62 out of the 63 provinces and cities have set up HIV/AIDS Control Centres under their Health Departments and 50 % of districts have HIV/AIDS treatment facilities. There are also more than 1,300 testing facilities across the country.

 

Vietnam is one of the first countries in the world to successfully pilot the World Health Organisation’s Treatment 2.0 Initiative to bring testing and ARV treatment services to commune-level health stations.