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North West province says it's ready for HIV/AIDS drug rollout
Lynne Altenroxel. 08 September 2003. The Star. Republished courtesy of Independent Newspapers (Pty) Ltd.
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Most major hospitals in North West - one of the country's poorest provinces - are ready to provide anti-HIV/AIDS drugs, the provincial health department has announced.
The department said it expected that Tshepong Hospital in Klerksdorp would be the first site to provide anti-retrovirals to HIV-positive patients.
It announced this in a statement on Sunday after a conference set up to review the impact of North West Province's AIDS Council.
The anti-retroviral programme would gradually be extended to Mafikeng, Rustenburg, Vryburg and Taung hospitals.
"All these major hospitals will also be used to support our health centres and clinics, which are expected to experience high demand when the decision to roll out is made," the statement read.
The announcement follows a visit to the province by the National Anti-retroviral Task Team set up after the cabinet instructed Health Minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang to come up with a plan to provide anti-AIDS drugs by the end of this month.
Despite Tshabalala-Msimang's protestations over the past few months that South African hospitals and clinics lacked trained staff and resources to provide anti-retrovirals, the task team has been quoted as saying that some sites could start treating HIV-positive patients with triple therapy as early as November.
In Gauteng some government hospitals, such as Helen Joseph Hospital and Johannesburg Hospital, are already providing anti-retrovirals to patients who can afford to pay for them.
In the Western Cape doctors are providing triple therapy to a limited number of patients at public hospitals and clinics - but the drugs have been donated.
North West's Health MEC Dr Molefi Sefularo said an estimated 50 000 people in the province currently need anti-retrovirals to stay alive. |
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