The North West Department of Health and Social Development has accredited two sites to offer antiretroviral (ARV) and four more are under going pre-accreditation evaluation as more people are put on ARV treatment.
Delarayville Hospital and Orkney clinic were recently accredited to add to the existing twenty nine sites in the province.
About 74 462 people in the North West now receive free anti retroviral drugs, while less than 100 are on the waiting list. In December 2008, 53 944 were on treatment.
“We continue to increase access to prevention, treatment and a lot still needs to be done to meet the 2011 national strategy aimed at reducing infection by 50 percent,” says MEC Rebecca Kasienyane.
The department also has 28 community based organisations accredited as part of down referral programme.
These accredited sites refer stable patients to community based organisations where quality comprehensive HIV and AIDS care, management and treatment (CCMT) can be continued thereby ensuring monitoring of drug adherence and tracing of patients who default treatment.
This strategy is consistent with the World Health Organization’s recommendation that health care systems urgently shift from acute, hospital based care to community based and patient cantered chronic care. A patient to be referred must meet the following criteria:
* Must have been on ART for at least six months and clinically stable on treatment
* Show no sign of side effect and adverse drug reaction.
The progress is reviewed every six months to ensure continuation.
Enquiries:
Tebogo Lekgethwane
Cell: 082 929 9958
E-mail: tlekgethwane@nwpg.gov.za
Ngwako J Motsieng
Tel: 018 387 5740
Cell: 082 964 8838
Cell: 082 097 4970
Fax to e-mail: 086 634 2993
E-mail: NMotsieng@nwpg.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Health and Social Development, North West Provincial Government
29 September 2009
