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| Mission Director for USAID Vietnam Yastishock speaks at the launch ceremony of the Local Health System Sustainability project in Vietnam — PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE U.S. EMBASSY IN VIETNAM |
Through the project, USAID will continue to work with the Government of Vietnam to strengthen public financial management systems for the health sector, find greater efficiencies in social health insurance and increase the efficiency of the domestic financing of HIV prevention and treatment services.
The project will also help strengthen the capacity of Vietnam’s supply chain management system and integrate tuberculosis services into social health insurance.
Addressing the launch ceremony, Mission Director for USAID Vietnam Yastishock said, “I would like to congratulate the Government of Vietnam and the Ministry of Health on the successful transition of your HIV response from donor to domestic funding, with social health insurance as the primary financing mechanism.”
According to Yastishock, the country now has 90% of HIV patients enrolled in social health insurance. All treatment facilities for HIV services can now be reimbursed. Most importantly, social health insurance funds are now used to procure anti-retroviral drugs, the most expensive component of an HIV response.
“This is a remarkable trajectory of success, one we are all proud to share with Vietnam. USAID, through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program, has supported the Vietnamese Government in updating policies and building systems that would support this transition,” he added.
The Local Health System Sustainability project in Vietnam is a four-year project, from 2020 to 2024, with a planned budget of US$13.9 million funded by the U.S. Government through PEPFAR and USAID.
The project is a part of USAID’s global initiative in integrated health systems strengthening to help low- and middle-income countries transition to sustainable and self-financed health systems as a means to support access to universal health coverage.
