A national task team has been appointed by Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang to coordinate the drafting of an operational plan for a countrywide anti-retroviral treatment programme.
The minister said on Wednesday the team comprises mainly senior officials from her department as well as experts in the health sector.
Dr Anthony D Mbewu, the executive director for research at the Medical Research Council of South Africa, will chair the team. Dr Nono Simelela, the cluster manager for HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and sexually transmitted infections in the health department, will continue to coordinate the activities of the plan.
Over the next six weeks, the team will work closely with provincial health authorities and will consult broadly with national and international experts and various South African stakeholders, the minister said in a statement.
She said that during this period the National HIV and Aids Treatment Task Team will develop a detailed operational plan and implementation schedule for Cabinet’s approval.
The team will concentrate on the development of provincial implementation plans, including a resource and training centre in each province to help ensure the delivery of high quality treatment and care. There will also be a schedule for roll-out across district hospitals and health centres and a forecast of staffing requirements.
These provincial operational plans will be based on the district health systems within each province.
The team will look at the procurement and/or production of necessary medications and consumables at as low a price as possible and an increase in the capacity and security of the drug distribution system. It will concentrate on the upgrading of the national health laboratory system to handle a significant increase in diagnostic testing and monitoring of patient safety.
It will elaborate on an integrated nutritional programme for people with HIV/Aids, and develop a research agenda to support the programme, including the engagement of South African academic centres and research institutions.
The minister said the team will establish a robust system to monitor the efficacy of intervention, adverse drug events, resistance and improvement and coordination of patient information systems.
Staffing norms and standards will be developed for the delivery of anti-retroviral therapy and assessment of human resource needs, including health system managers, physicians, nurses, pharmacists, nutritionists and counsellors.
The team will create a programme management unit to coordinate the carrying out of the programme and recommend what its functions, structure, staffing and cost will be.
A communications plan for health providers and the public, including what to expect from the proposed treatment programme, will be developed as well as a detailed five-year programme budget and an estimated 10-year budget to implement the treatment programme.
”As a result of this work, the task team will produce an operational plan detailing the tasks to be performed, a schedule for their performance and a clear designation of responsibility for each task.
”This will help ensure that safe and effective HIV and Aids treatment, care and support is brought to all South Africans,” the minister said in a statement.
Other members of the team from the health department are:
Dr Lindi Makubalo, the cluster manager for health information systems, research coordination, epidemiological surveillance, monitoring and evaluation
Mandisa Hela, the director for access to affordable medicines
Vishal Brijlal, the director for health finance and economics
Cynthia Mgijima, the director for nutrition
Rose Mdlalose, the acting cluster manager of human resources
The other members are:
Precious Matsoso, the registrar and chief executive of the Medicines Control Council
Thanduxolo Doro, from the National Association of People Living with Aids
Hasina Subedar, the registrar and chief executive of the South African Nursing Council
Prof Tanyane Mariba, dean of the faculty of medicine at the University of Pretoria and chairperson of the Health Professions Council of South Africa
Prof Barry Schoub, a professor of medical virology at the University of the Witwatersrand and director of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases
Dr Ashraf Grimwood, a clinician and national Aids treatment expert
Philip Onyebujoh, a clinical immunologist coordinating tuberculosis/HIV research at the World Health Organisation in Geneva
Dr Mokhethi Radebe, a major general in the South African Military Health Services
Members of the Chamber of Mines and Medscheme’s Aids for Aids Programme
”Some members of the task team will comprise a core team and work full-time on this project while others will assist to convene focused consultations with relevant stakeholders and also act as a reference advisory group to the task team,” the minister said.
In addition, the team will be assisted by members of the Clinton Foundation Aids Initiative, established by former United States president Bill Clinton. The foundation is led by Ira Magaziner.
Earlier this month the Cabinet instructed the Department of Health to urgently develop a detailed operational plan for a national anti-retroviral treatment programme.
The plan is expected to be complete by the end of September. — Sapa