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Country Overview


ARVs support over 29,000 people who are currently on treatment under PEPFAR in Vietnam.


Vietnam is the only country in Asia to be included in the PEPFAR program. The Government of Vietnam’s response to HIV/AID prevention is guided by a national strategic plan, one that calls for mobilizing government, party, and community-level organizations across multiple sectors. According to UNAIDS, HIV prevalence in Vietnam is estimated to be about less than half of one percent of the population. In 2008, over 300,000 HIV cases were reported. The government’s target for patients on anti-retrovirals (ARVs) is 70 percent by 2015.


SCMS is working with the Vietnam Administration for AIDS Control (VAAC) at the Ministry of Health to improve HIV/AIDS efforts in two critical ways: distribution and dispensing of drugs. Since June 2006, we have delivered or committed to procure about $27 million in HIV/AIDS commodities, supporting sites in nine designated PEPFAR provinces, including Hanoi and Ho Chi Min City. These ARVs support over 29,000 people who are currently on treatment under PEPFAR. We are also training dispensers through workshops and site visits to shore up their role as key providers of drug treatment and strategic resources for patient information.

 

Key Objectives

  • Information management: Improve data collection and information sharing to drive coordinated, cost-effective decision-making.
  • Quantification, procurement and distribution: Ensure that supply chain logistics across all supply chain system organizations are effectively managed and overseen, and build site capacity for storing and dispensing drugs, collecting data and ordering lab products, and clearing, warehousing, and distributing drugs.
  • Capacity building: Train clinical site dispensers to provide patients with high-quality, best-value



Activities and Impact


Warehousing and distribution: SCMS is working with the Government of Vietnam to ensure PEPFAR-supported government sites receive continuous supplies of ARV medicines through creating a site reporting system, a centralized data collection point, and a centralized warehousing and distribution system. We are also conducting workshops and one-on-one consultations to meet the training needs of pharmacists and nurses who distribute ARVs to patients.


Procurement: SCMS led the first national five-year forecast of ARV’s in March 2010, which was used to develop the Government of Vietnam’s HIV/AIDS strategy through 2015. The forecast highlighted funding needs for the five-year period based on the VAAC’s ability to meet its target of 70 percent coverage of eligible adult patients by 2015.

 

Logistics management information system (LMIS): SCMS has worked with the Government of Vietnam to implement a central LMIS. Since September 2005, the number of ART sites receiving goods through the centralized system has expanded from 1 to 500. To date, the LMIS has reported that 43,000 patients are receiving ART.

 

Training: SCMS piloted four self-learning modules to train dispenser once they start their job instead of waiting for periodic workshops. Dispensers who participated in the self-learning module pilot tested comparably to those who participated in similar classroom trainings, with no significant difference in the two groups’ reported levels of understanding and confidence in using the course materials which address dispensing, stock management, reporting, patient counseling and general information on HIV/AIDS. Due to the success of the July 2009 pilot, SCMS is providing the modules to all dispensers joining the program and making training more immediately accessible and cost-effective.

        CONTACT FOR VIETNAM


        Mehmood Anwar

        Deputy Director


        Address:
        25 Bui Thi Xuan
        Hanoi, Vietnam


        T. 84.043.945.4561
        F. 84.043.945.4563

        manwar@vn.pfscm.org

        Map of Vietnam

        RELATED CONTENT


        Thanh Nien News Report:
        "US funds Vietnam's HIV fight with $70 million programs." (July 20, 2011)


        Supply Lines article:
        "Shipment of methadone to Vietnam marks milestone." (June 2008)


        SCMS Report:
        "Self-instructional Training for New Medicine Dispensers in Vietnam." (November 2009)

        The Supply Chain Management System (scms) is implemented by the Partnership for Supply Chain Management, Inc. This website was made possible through the support of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief through the US Agency for International Development (USAID) under the terms of contract no. GPO-I-00-05-00032-00. The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of USAID or the US government.