Free X-rays for people at high-risk of contracting TB are provided by a project administered by the HCMC Public Health Association with Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital.(Photo: VNA)city’s tuberculosis (TB) prevention programme and treat patients with the
disease.
The hospitals include the Sai Gon General Hospital, FV Hospital, Vu Anh
International General Hospital, and Hoa Hao Medical Diagnosis Centre.
According to Dr Nguyen Huu Lan, the deputy head of the city’s steering
committee for programme, five public and
currently admit and treat these patients, including the Phoi Viet-Centre of
Respiratory Disease Treatment, Military Hospital 175, April 30 Hospital,
Hospital for Tropical Diseases, and Sai Gon Hoan My General Hospital.
Other hospitals provide short treatment periods of fewer than 21 days. These
include the University Medical Centre, Cho Ray Hospital, An Binh Hospital,
Paediatrics Hospitals 1 and 2, and Xuyen A General Hospital.
These hospitals have contributed to increased detection of new incidences of
TB. The number of newly detected cases accounts for 30 percent of the city’s
total. Nearly 16 percent to 19 percent of the total are treated at these
hospitals.
More than 350 private clinics are also working with the committee, which will
cooperate with the city’s to expand TB treatment to
all 24 districts. The project is currently being carried out in 8 districts
including Go Vap.
Dr Nguyen Trung Hoa, director of Go Vap District Health Centre, said that
medical clinics taking part in the project are paid 200,000 VND for each TB
detection. The centre pays clinics for drugs and X-rays, and patients pay their
additional treatment costs.
Vietnam aims to reduce the prevalence of patients with TB to under 131 per
100,000 and the ratio of people dying due to TB to under 10 per 100,000 by
2020.
The country also targets reducing the rate of patients with multidrug-resistant
TB to less than 5 percent of total new incidences nationwide. – VNS/VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
