More than 1,000 people march to demand longer supply of ARVs for people with HIV
QwaQwa, 14 May 2024 — This week hundreds of activists from the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) will take to the streets in Thabo Mofutsanyana, Lejweleputswa, and Dr Kenneth Kaunda to demand longer ARV refills for people with HIV.
In South Africa, more than 2 million people living with HIV are still not on life saving HIV treatment — some people having never known their HIV status, and worryingly many others having started on treatment and then stopped.
“The reality is that often people stop collecting their ARVs because of the unwelcoming environment in our clinics,” says Lungile Vilakazi, a TAC leader in the Free State. “We wait all day to be seen. Our files take hours to find or go missing. If we are late for our appointments, we are shouted at and sent to the back of the queue. If you are living with HIV and a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, or use drugs or are a sex worker, you can be denied your ARVs altogether.”
“In February I missed an appointment date — my first time ever — and they didn’t want to understand or let me explain, they just put me back to one month,” one person living with HIV from Dr Kenneth Kaunda explained. “I am not happy; this was a first time mistake. Going to the clinic isn’t easy; I wake up early to walk there and to be there by 7am. And then I will only leave around 4pm.”
A simple solution exists to reduce the frequency of clinic visits — for people who are collecting ARVs to simply get a longer supply of medication. However, of people living with HIV interviewed by Ritshidze in April and May 2024, only 12% reported receiving a 3 month supply in Thabo Mofutsanyana, only 25% in Lejweleputswa, only 35% in Alfred Nzo, and only 46% in Dr Kenneth Kaunda — despite being recommended in National ART Guidelines.
Not only would a longer supply of ARVs mean fewer trips back to the clinic — making medicine collection easier — but it would also reduce the burden on already congested and overstretched facilities. The guidelines were revised in 2023 based on strong evidence showing longer ARV supplies support long term retention.
In contrast, according to Ritshidze data, 97% of people living with HIV interviewed in Bojanala reported getting a 3 month supply, 85% in Ugu, and 82% in uThukela. Outside of South Africa, other PEPFAR supported countries report more than 80% of people getting between a 3 and 6 month supply of ARVs.
“It should be a three month supply for all my medicines, because honestly speaking even when the nurses check you every month they aren’t helping — it is just wasting our time to have to be there every month,” one person living with HIV from Lejweleputswa told us.
Another person from Dr Kenneth Kaunda said: “I think that if you are stable, like I am, then they should even be giving us our pills for three months or even six months.”
“As TAC and Ritshidze we have well documented how the dysfunction in our clinics forces people to stop collecting treatment. As one way to turn this situation around, for more than four years we have been calling on the department to ensure people get longer ARV refills. While more people are now getting 3 month supply, a number of districts are falling behind,” says Anele Yawa, TAC’s General Secretary.
“We are marching this week to demand that everyone eligible gets a 3 month supply of ARVs right now — and for the National Department of Health to ensure that 10% of eligible people get a 6 month supply by the end of 2024. This is already provided for in the 2023 ART national guidelines and policies — so provincial and district health departments need to start their planning processes now.”
“We also demand transparency. The department must release data every quarter on the proportion of people living with HIV getting 3, 4, or 6 month supply across all districts and facilities,” Yawa continued.
#MoreARVPillsNow
For more information or to arrange interviews contact:
Ngqabutho Mpofu | +27 72 225 9675 | ngqabutho.mpofu@tac.org.za
Morongwa Ntini: 072 532 9806 | morongwa.ntini@tac.org.za (contact at the marches)
Note to editors:
The Thabo Mofutsanyana memorandum is available here
The Lejweleputswa memorandum is available here
The Dr Kenneth Kaunda memorandum is available here
A full briefing document responding to the reasons given by the district health departments for not providing 3MMD is available here
Find below full details of the three marches:
March to Thabo Mofutsanyana District Department of Health, Tuesday 14 May
Gathering | 9am – 10am (Freedom Square, Mampoi Street)
March | 10am – 12pm
Programme & handover of memorandum | 12pm to 1pm (Ohbundhan Building, Hampoi Street)
March to Lejweleputswa District Department of Health, Wednesday 15 May
Gathering | 9am – 10am (Welkom Central Park Stateway Road)
March | 10am – 12pm
Programme & handover of memorandum | 12pm to 1pm (Kopano House, Building 17140, Long Road)
March to Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Department of Health, Thursday 16 May
Gathering | 10am – 11am (Jade Square Building, OR Tambo, Klerksdorp)
https://maps.app.goo.gl/nbFHB2dGVggkgw78A
March | 11am – 12:30pm
Programme & handover of memorandum | 12:30pm to 1:30pm (West End Building, Leaks Street)
https://maps.app.goo.gl/dEXMWkD8m6R53EbV6
About Ritshidze
Ritshidze monitoring takes place on a quarterly basis at more than 400 facilities across 29 districts in 8 provinces in South Africa: including 9 facilities in Alfred Nzo (Eastern Cape), 24 facilities in Lejweleputswa (Free State), 16 facilities in Thabo Mofutsanyana (Free State), and 16 facilities in Dr Kenneth Kaunda (North West). Data in this statement were collected between April and May 2024.
Ritshidze is a programme of the PLHIV Sector made up of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), National Association of People Living with HIV (NAPWA), Positive Action Campaign, Positive Women’s Network, and the South African Network of Religious Leaders Living with HIV (SANERELA+). For more information go to www.ritshidze.org.za.
www.tac.org.za
#MoreARVPillsNow
