Anti-retroviral drugs will not be available for Aids patients in the state health system within the next week or two, a senior government official cautioned on Thursday.
”Otherwise we put people’s lives at risk,” Dr Nono Simelela, head of the national HIV/Aids programme, told reporters in Pretoria.
On Wednesday the Cabinet instructed the Department of Health to immediately implement an Aids treatment plan, which includes anti-retroviral drugs.
Simelela said it is not possible to say when the first patients would receive the drugs in terms of the plan.
”I can’t give a time.”
An estimated 53 000 patients will get the treatment by the end of the current financial year. This will grow to 188 000 by 2004/5 and to almost a million by 2007/8, she said.
One factor that plays an important role in determining how soon the treatment will start is the availability of drugs, according to Simelela.
She pointed out that pharmaceutical companies in South Africa do not produce the active ingredients for anti-retroviral drugs. They have to be procured from abroad.
Negotiations about the procurement of the drugs are ongoing, but these have been limited because of the government’s previous policy, she said.
Another requirement of the plan is that service points from where the drugs are to be dispensed have to be accredited. For accreditation, they have to comply with about 30 criteria, said Dr Anthony MBewu, head of the task team that drew up the plan.
Some will be able to comply within a few months, while others might take six months or longer to do so, he said.
Said Simelela: ”The plan says those who are ready to go, as soon as the drugs come, they go.”
Pharmaceutical companies now have to keep their promises and negotiate honestly, she said.
”It means everybody must come to the table.”
The plan stipulates that the drugs should be procured at the cheapest price possible, Simelela said. — Sapa
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