HIV treatment management at the Khanh Hoa Center for Disease Control

Abstract

Objective: This study describes the status of HIV treatment management using routine treatment data from 2024 and identifies factors influencing the quality of treatment management. Methodology: A combined quantitative-qualitative, sequential explanatory study; the quantitative component is a cross-sectional, retrospective study of all secondary data compared according to Circular No. 28/2018/TT-BYT dated October 26, 2018, of the Minister of Health. The qualitative component comprised in-depth interviews with people living with HIV and healthcare providers to explore factors affecting treatment management. Results: Initial clinical assessment met the basic standard in 39.4% of medical records, whereas only 5.8% achieved the optimal standard (≥95%), largely due to inadequate completion of baseline laboratory investigations, for which only 11.5% met the optimal standard. Follow-up care demonstrated better performance, with 99.0% of records meeting the basic standard and 56.1% meeting the standard level; however, only 6.3% achieved the optimal standard. Referral management reached 100% compliance with the basic standard, although none of the records fulfilled the standard-level requirements specified in the national guideline. Overall, HIV treatment management achieved the basic standard in 93.6% of cases; however, fewer than half met the standard level, and only 2.6% fully satisfied 95-95-95 treatment targets. Conclusions: The implementation of electronic medical records, improvement of healthcare infrastructure, enhancement of laboratory capacity and staff competency, and strengthening of supervision and quality management are key measures to improve the quality of HIV treatment services and to sustain treatment adherence among people living with HIV.