Referral and Monitoring of Referral Treatment for People Infected with HIV
Article 9 of Circular 28/2018/TT-BYT, which regulates the management of treatment for people infected with HIV and those exposed to HIV at medical facilities as issued by the Minister of Health, effective from January 1, 2019, stipulates the referral and monitoring of referral treatment for people with HIV as follows:
- The treatment facility transferring the patient:
a) Implement the transfer procedure in accordance with Circular No. 14/2014/TT-BYT dated April 14, 2014, by the Minister of Health, on the regulation of patient transfer between medical examination and treatment facilities (hereinafter referred to as Circular No. 14/2014/TT-BYT) and the regulations in this Circular;
b) Summarize the medical records following the guidance in Appendix No. 01 issued with this Circular;
c) Write the Referral Form according to the instructions in Appendix No. 02 issued with this Circular;
d) Provide enough HIV antiretroviral drugs for use until the scheduled time at the new treatment facility.
- The treatment facility receiving the patient:
a) Accept the patient, verify personal information with the details recorded in the Referral Form;
b) Based on the information recorded in the Referral Form and the clinical condition of the patient, implement the contents stipulated in Article 6 of this Circular;
c) Within a maximum of 30 days from the date of receiving the patient, the treatment facility where the patient is received must provide information feedback to the transferring facility as stipulated in Circular No. 14/2014/TT-BYT.
- After 30 days from the date recorded on the Referral Form, if the treatment facility transferring the patient does not receive notification of patient acceptance from the treatment facility to which the patient was transferred, the transferring facility must contact the receiving facility to confirm the referral information of the patient.
If the patient does not arrive at the referral treatment facility, the transferring facility must contact the patient or the patient's family to remind them to proceed with the referral.
In case of transfer at the request of the patient, in addition to implementing the contents stipulated in Clauses 1, 2, and 3 of this Article, the treatment facility is responsible for providing information on the most suitable HIV antiretroviral treatment facility for the patient to enable them to make their own decision on selecting a new treatment facility.
In the case where the patient is undergoing antiretroviral therapy and is placed in a detention center, temporary detention, compulsory education establishment, or reform school, the treatment facility will carry out the transfer procedure as regulated in Joint Circular No. 02/2015/TTLT/BCA-BQP-BYT dated January 22, 2015, of the Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of National Defense, and Ministry of Health, guiding the management, care, counseling, treatment for people living with HIV, and HIV infection prevention in detention centers, temporary detention, custody, compulsory education establishments, and reform schools (hereinafter referred to as Joint Circular No. 02/2015/TTLT/BCA-BQP-BYT) and as per the guidance for writing the referral form stipulated in Appendix No. 02 issued with this Circular.
In case of referral transfer for children infected with HIV, the transferring treatment facility must advise the child's caregiver on the transfer. If the child is using pediatric antiretroviral drugs or uncommon regimens, it must contact the treatment facility where the child is expected to be transferred in advance to ensure that suitable drugs are available before the child is transferred.
In the case of transferring from a pediatric treatment facility to an adult treatment facility, the transferring facility must counsel and provide knowledge about reproductive health for adolescents, and advise on disclosing their HIV status before the transfer. The receiving treatment facility must continue to provide psychological support, reproductive health, and sexual health knowledge to the patient according to the Guidelines for HIV/AIDS Treatment and Care.
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