The USAID Sustainable HIV and Tuberculosis Response from Technical Assistance (SHIFT) project strengthens and delivers innovative enhancements in HIV and Tuberculosis (TB) services and  helps transition the HIV/AIDS response to host country ownership through targeted technical assistance in six provinces in Vietnam in order to accomplish the country’s ambitious “90-90-90” targets. SHIFT is expected to accomplish this purpose by providing direct service delivery and technical assistance on HIV and TB to the Vietnam Authority of HIV/AIDS Control and the National TB Program, as well as other key local stakeholders in priority provinces, to ensure successful transition from USAID-supported HIV and TB services to the provincial government by the end of the project.

Strengthening hiv services to achieve 90-90-90 targets

Building on the successes of previous USAID projects, USAID SHIFT continues implementation of testing and treatment models in six provinces in the Ho Chi Minh City Metropolitan area and Northern Economic Zone. The project focuses on intensively targeted HIV case-finding among key populations through online and in-person outreach; tracing partners of diagnosed PLHIV; offering diversified testing options for those at the greatest risk; and linking diagnosed PLHIV to quality HIV treatment, thus ensuring 90 percent virus suppression for sustainable epidemic control in Vietnam. USAID's innovative performance-based incentives for health workers and support for HIV treatment through health insurance for PLHIV maximizes efficiency and sustainability of these approaches. The project uses data from recency tests (which determine if a person contracted HIV recently) to identify active transmission chains and epidemic hotspots, thus targeting programming where it will be most effective.

Achieve epidemic control targets through scaling up TB services in collaboration with local TB networks

To support Vietnam’s efforts to end TB, from October 2019, USAID SHIFT aims to increase the number of TB cases detected and initiated on treatment in Vietnam to halt the transmission cycle. USAID SHIFT uses two strategies to increase drug-sensitive and drug-resistant TB case detection in the seven provinces including the “2X Strategy” using chest X-ray and GeneXpert test; and active case finding among select risk groups to demonstrate proof of principle and feasibility for expanded 2X which will enable provinces to scale up implementation using their own resources following the project’s completion.

RESULTS

As of December 2018, the project supported HIV treatment for 30,062 patients, of which 96.8% have successfully achieved viral supression.