USAID Director Highlights Key Challenge in Vietnam's Mission to End TB
In an interview with Vietnam Plus reporters, USAID's Mission Director for Vietnam Ms. Aler Grubbs highlighted Vietnam's ongoing challenge in narrowing the diagnostic gap to end tuberculosis (TB) by 2035 as approximately 40% of TB cases in the country remain undetected and untreated in healthcare facilities.
She noted that ending TB is a key commitment in the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the U.S. and Vietnam while affirming that USAID is intensifying efforts to support countries, including Vietnam, in this goal, through its latest global strategy announced in October 2022.
Since 2019, USAID has partnered with Vietnam's National TB Control Program to focus on (i) enhancing TB prevention and control capacities in both public and private healthcare systems through the use of new technologies, (ii) improving access to TB services, and (iii) ensuring sustainable funding for TB prevention efforts in Vietnam, she added.
The USAID-supported End TB project, implemented by FHI 360 in collaboration with the National TB Control Program, detected 17,861 TB cases and 9,894 latent TB infections in nine priority localities from August 2020 to December 2023, achieving a detection rate of 1,330/100,000 X-ray exams, which is eight times higher than the national new case detection rate, she pointed out, believing that the project will continue to provide technical support to 63 provinces.
To enhance the capacity of the TB control network, the project has collaborated with the National TB Control Program to update important national technical guidelines and procedures, support the improvement and launch of the upgraded VITIMES software version, and facilitate TB diagnosis and treatment through health insurance, she remarked.
Moving forward, USAID will continue working with Vietnam's healthcare system to reach vulnerable populations and provide high-quality services, offer ongoing support for TB prevention efforts across all provinces in Vietnam, and share best practices and innovations to combat TB effectively, she stated.