CCM Conducted Field Monitoring in An Giang Province

On October 24 and 25, 2024, the Viet Nam Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria carried out field monitoring activities in An Giang province. The delegation was led by Mr. Nguyen Anh Phong – CCM Vice Chair, Mr. Tong Van Nam – Vice Chair of the Oversight Committee, along with representatives from the TB Technical Sub-committee, the HIV Technical Sub-committee, and the CCM Secretariat. The team worked with Global Fund implementation sectors, including the An Giang Center for Disease Control (CDC), Long Xuyen City Health Center, Chau Doc City Health Center, An Giang Provincial Lung Hospital, and YouMe Media and Community Development Co., Ltd.

The monitoring results showed that An Giang had made strong efforts and achieved the 90-95-95 targets: 95.6% of people living with HIV know their status; 95.0% of people diagnosed with HIV are receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART); and 96.0% of those on ART have achieved viral suppression. The province recorded 1,023 people on pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), reaching 157% of the annual target, and achieved a significant latent TB treatment rate of over 95%. ARV drugs were sufficiently supplied, and intervention models were implemented effectively, contributing to sustaining HIV/AIDS and TB prevention and control outcomes.

However, the implementation process faced several challenges, including a low disbursement rate (18% as of September 2024) due to complex procurement procedures for test kits and consumables, prolonged financial settlement processes, delayed provision of HIV test kits, shortages of pediatric TB drugs and some second-line TB medicines, and insufficient consumables for HIV viral load testing. In addition, healthcare workers were required to take on multiple tasks without project allowances as in the past, and community outreach workers have not yet received project support.

The monitoring team recommended that project sectors improve procedures for financial settlement of donor-funded activities, simplify procurement processes, and establish mechanisms for providing allowances to health staff from provincial budgets. They also recommended ensuring sufficient supplies of ARV and TB medicines and HIV test kits, working with viral load testing service providers to implement lump-sum or consumable supply mechanisms for sample collection sites, and providing online training to strengthen health education knowledge for community group members.

The CCM’s field monitoring in An Giang helped to promptly identify challenges, share experiences, and propose solutions to enhance the effective use of donor resources, moving towards the goal of ending HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria.

The CCM Secretariat