On June 14, USAID and partners celebrated the completion of the eight-year, $20.7 million USAID/PATH Healthy Markets project and launched the new, five-year, $15 million USAID/PATH STEPS project. From 2014 to 2021, Healthy Markets addressed critical gaps in accessible, affordable, community-based HIV care while strengthening the domestic market for HIV-related goods and services. An example was the project’s support for the introduction and scale-up of HIV community-based testing, self-testing, and pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP (an oral pill that prevents HIV infection when taken as prescribed)—three key services that contributed to a 57 percent reduction in new HIV infections over the past decade. The project mobilized more than $12.6 million in investment into the national HIV response by facilitating partnerships with more than 150 private sector entities. The newly launched USAID/PATH Support for Technical Excellence and Private Sector Sustainability in Vietnam (STEPS) project will focus on ensuring sustainability of collective progress and addressing key remaining gaps in HIV service delivery and financing.
Given more than 95% of the current oral PrEP market is subsidized by international donors, a major focus of STEPS will be on increasing sustainable PrEP financing through a blend of commercial, public-financed, and free PrEP services. Combined with other assistance, STEPS will support Vietnam to achieve its epidemic control goals outlined in the National Strategy to End AIDS by 2030.