The Health Department would not be suspending anti-retroviral programmes for children as had been reported in the media, a spokesperson said on Tuesday.
However, it had warned participating hospitals to make sure they had enough supplies of the medication before enrolling new patients, spokesperson Sibani Mngadi said.
Responding to an article which stated that the department had instructed provinces not to enrol more children, Mngadi said: ”This is definitely not the case. The point is that there is a problem with government supplies of anti-retrovirals for children.
”Provinces need to check whether they have secure and sustainable supplies when they enrol children onto the programme because it cannot be interrupted.”
He said the ingredients for the drugs were sourced from overseas and this had created difficulties.
The government had secured limited stocks of the medication as an interim measure, while 10 tenders for permanent supplies were currently being considered and would be finalised ”within a few weeks”.
The Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng are the only provinces supplying the medication so far, he said.
Other provinces are still enrolling patients and taking them through ”treatment literacy programmes”.
A study by the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund recently found that almost seven out of every 100 children in South Africa in the two to nine year age group are infected with HIV. – Sapa