However, Vietnam is still one of the nations with tuberculosis burden in the world. Annually, the country reports 130,000 tuberculosis patients and the disease kills 17,000 a year. As per a study on infections, in Ho Chi Minh City in 2014, approximately 7,323 people did not receive treatment. Worse, there has been drug-resistant cases leading to more difficult task for medical workers
Statistically, private infirmaries just provided 10 percent of total cases of tuberculosis compared to its public facilities. Accordingly, the health sector should ask private facilities to cooperate in finding tuberculosis people who were left behind to provide treatment as per the National Tuberculosis Program.
Subsequently, in October, 2017, the Public Health Association HCMC and Friends for International Tuberculosis Relief (FIT) implemented the program to take care tuberculosis patients in private infirmaries.
The program has been implemented in districts 10, 7 and Go Vap.
Anyone who visits facilities in the network of the program for examination and buying drug, when they are diagnosed with respiratory diseases, they will receive a sheet. With the sheet, they are eligible for a discount of VND50,000 when they go to the program’s hospitals for X-ray.
Moreover, people are able for free-of-charge tests of sputum.
Especially, the program carries out test by utilizing GeneXpert, most modern technique, which will produce result within two hours. If a person is positive for tuberculosis, they will receive free treatment as per the program and consultation.
For poor patient, the program will also give fee for daily activities during treatment procedure.
