Taiwan: CDC planning to expand eligibility for publicly funded HIV treatment for foreign nationals

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is planning to expand eligibility for publicly funded HIV treatment for foreign nationals next year, although it has not released many details on how the expansion would work.

CDC Director-General Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) told a press event on Monday last week that subsidy regulations are being revised and eligibility for publicly funded treatment for foreign residents would be expanded.

Lo at the time said the expansion would initially prioritize foreign nationals holding permanent residency and those under 18, but he offered no other details.

When the CDC was asked later in the week about how many more foreign nationals would become eligible for publicly funded treatment, it said it was still assessing the potential impact and "has no clear figure yet."

Under its existing support program, the CDC covers costs for an HIV patient's first two years on medication, after which expenses are covered by the National Health Insurance (NHI) system.

As of late last month, 36,494 Taiwanese and 615 foreign nationals in Taiwan were living with HIV, the CDC said in a written response on Friday.

Of the 615 foreign nationals, 343 were already covered under NHI, while the others have been on medication for less than two years and were not yet eligible for NHI coverage, although some have received financial help in other ways.

Patients are currently treated with highly active antiretroviral therapy, commonly known as "cocktail therapy" combining at least two to three antiretroviral drugs, with monthly medication costs capped at under NT$13,200.

At the news conference on Monday last week, Lo said the enrollment quota for the publicly funded HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) program would also be increased next year, to 9,500 people, from 8,000 this year.

The program, designed to prevent the incidence of HIV, is open to Taiwanese and foreign spouses of Taiwanese who meet the criteria and are assessed by physicians, the CDC said.

Lo said Taiwan would record about 850 new HIV cases this year, the lowest level since 2003 and down about 11 to 12 percent from last year, in part because of the PrEP program.