HCM City’s HIV/AIDS prevention and control system is facing high risk of bankruptcy because international donors plan to reduce funding next month.
Plan for PEPFAR's funding reduction by 2020
The city now tops the country in the number of HIV/AIDS patients, and all of the funding for its HIV/AIDS prevention and control programmes depends the international assistance.
Vivian Chao, coordinator of the United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which accounts for up to 70% of the total funds for Vietnam’s HIV/AIDS prevention and control activities, said Vietnam has become a middle-income country so PEPFAR will gradually reduce its financial support for the programmes.
“In 2012 we will maintain assistance at USD82 million for Vietnam, the same rate as last year. But after this year PEPFAR will slash 10-15% of the support annually,” she added.
MA. Phan Thi Thu Huong, Deputy Head of Vietnam Administration of HIV/AIDS Control, said that this is a worrying problem for the whole country, particularly HCM City. With a range of mother-to-kid transmission preventive treatment programmes, HCM City will be hardest-hit by the shortage of funds.
HCM City receives the most funding from both international organisations and state budget. The city also helps to provide treatment for HIV/AIDS patients from surrounding localities.
Despite having the most HIV/AIDS cases, to date, only 35 cadres work as regular staff. Their salary is paid by the city budget, while 70 other staff members are paid by international donations.
“If the city fails to keep the 70 staff members, we are afraid that its HIV/AIDS programmes cannot be maintained. The salary of the programme's employees is is already modest, and many are considering giving up their jobs," Huong worried.
HCM City authorities have been considering measures such as seeking the Government’s approval for increasing the budget for HIV/AIDS prevention annually; covering HIV/AIDS patients with health insurance and calling for contributions from social resources. However, experts commented that, these measures would not be enough to preserve the progress the city has made with the help of international funding.
Over the past years, thanks to technical and financial assistance from the international community, HCM City has seen good results in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Between 2006 and 2007, the number of HIV/AIDS patients in the city was 34% of the country’s total, but the rate dropped to 12% by the end of 2011 and early 2012.
Vietnam now has more than 200,000 people living with HIV/AIDS. Around 21,000 of them need ARV treatment. Every year 5,000 new HIV cases are reported in Vietnam. At present HCM City has 50,000 HIV cases.