Access to antiretroviral therapy among HIV/AIDS patients in khon kaen province, Thailand

Abstract

This study attempted to identify the factors associated with the access to antiretroviral therapy (ARV) among HIV/AIDS patients in Khon Kaen Province, Thailand. We collected medical and sociodemographic data from the medical charts of adult patients living in the province who received medical services at two public hospitals in the province. The study period was from December 1 2001 to February 28 2002. Total 593 outpatients were included in the analysis. One hundred and forty-six patients (24.6%) received ARV. A logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify the factors associated with the use of ARV. Patients who were covered by the Civil Servant Medical Benefit Scheme were significantly more likely to receive ARV than those who were covered by the Universal Coverage Scheme (UC), a publicly-funded medical insurance (OR=12.43; 95% CI=6.03–25.62). The results of this study indicated that there were inequalities in access to and use of ARV among HIV/AIDS patients by health insurance status. The current government announced that they would include ARV in the benefits package of UC. It would be important to monitor how this policy will improve the access to ARV among HIV/AIDS patients.

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a Grant for Health Cooperation Research (13-C3) from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan. We are grateful to Ms Karoon Hongka (KKRH), Ms Kantong Mangjundeudom (KKRH), Ms Pimkan Paisarn (NEIH), Udomlack Vannasiri (NEIH) and their staff for the efforts in collecting the data.