U.S. and Vietnam Improve Quality of Care for People Living with HIV/AIDS

Theo nguồn tin từ tò a đại sứ Việt Nam tại Hà Nội

HANOI, December 9, 2013 – With support from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention partnered with the Government of Vietnam, Vietnamese partners, and other international stakeholders to improve the quality of care for people living with HIV/AIDS. “Since 2010, the initiative, known as HIVQUAL, establishes a performance data system to measure the quality of care and ensures HIV/AIDS clinics provide quality treatment services in accordance to national guidelines, thereby increasing early access to treatment and reducing HIV/AIDS-related deaths,” Dr. Bui Duc Duong, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Administration of HIV/AIDS Control said at the HIVQUAL Workshop on Quality Improvement for HIV/AIDS care held earlier this week.

“Quality improvement programs are the cornerstone of sustainable, high quality health programs and provide the opportunity for clinics to monitor their own performance and to address issues or gaps on their own, through locally-identified solutions,” said Country Director Dr. Michelle McConnell. “As a result of this program, we’ve already seen dramatic improvements in performance in participating outpatient clinics. And perhaps even more important and noteworthy, is the adoption of these principles and practices by the clinic staff and national and local leadership.”

The HIVQUAL project was piloted in 11 HIV/AIDS outpatient clinics last year in five provinces and has since expanded to 68 outpatient clinics in 13 provinces. Prior to the program, there was a lack of national coordination and leadership of HIV/AIDS quality improvement efforts. Now, the program is supported by national and international stakeholders, including the Vietnam Administration on HIV/AIDS Control (VAAC), the Hanoi School of Public Health (HSPH), Pasteur Institute (PI), provincial AIDS committees from 13 provinces, FHI 360, Harvard Medical School AIDS Initiative in Vietnam (HAIVN), the Global Fund, and World Health Organization. In the next year, the program will continue to be expanded to 20 more outpatient clinics.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a leading public health agency of the U.S. Mission in Vietnam and in partnership with the Government of Vietnam, has provided expert science-based technical assistance to strengthen the Vietnam national health system since 1997.

http://vietnam.usembassy.gov/pr120913i.html