TAC & Ritshidze welcome government’s ambitious target to get 1.5 million people on 6 month supply of ARVs

Johannesburg, 2 June 2026 – The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and Ritshidze welcome the target set by the Department of Health to enrol 1.5 million people on 6 month supply of ARVs by March 2027. The target was stated by the Department of Health in a recent article in Spotlight.

For those enrolled on 6 multi month dispensing – or 6MMD – it will mean only two trips to the clinic each year to collect ARVs. This will make it much easier for people to stay on treatment by reducing the cost of getting to the clinic, the hours spent waiting every year, the stress of repeated trips, and the cost of missing work or piece job opportunities. Importantly it will also reduce congestion and overall waiting times for everyone using the clinic, and reduce the burden on already overstretched healthcare workers. 

“As TAC and Ritshidze we are very relieved to hear the Department of Health has taken on board the 1.5 million target,” said Sibongile Tshabalala, TAC National Chairperson. “Stable people living with HIV should not have to keep making unnecessary clinic visits when policy already allows them to come far less often.”

“We have seen in the pilot phases that where facilities are implementing 6MMD and offering it to everyone eligible, enrolment is high – people want 6MMD! We believe that 1.5 million is an achievable target – but only if government now ensures rapid rollout across all facilities.”

After April 1 2026 all facilities are now able to provide 6MMD. This means there should now be a rapid catch up in enrolment. Every single eligible person living with HIV* – meaning stable, on ARVs for 12 months, using TLD, and having two suppressed viral loads – must be offered 6MMD when they go for their rescript. This must include both people collecting at standard facility medicine dispensing, and people using facility pick-up points and external pick-up points supported by CCMDD. 

Positively 96% of facilities monitored by Ritshidze so far in this reporting period say they know that they are allowed to provide 6MMD now, and 79% say they do not face any barriers to doing so. 

“Achieving this target is only at risk if one of two things happen. Firstly, if provinces limit rollout to a few more designated facilities – we need rollout across all facilities – not just a few designated pilot sites,” Tshabalala continued.

“Secondly, if facilities only offer 6MMD to people who are not already accessing their refill collections at CCMDD-supported collection points. We want people living with HIV to be able to choose – do I want to get my treatment through a treatment collection point meaning two visits to the clinic each year plus two visits to my refill collection point (four visits in total), or do I want to get 6MMD from my facility meaning two visits to my clinic each year in total. People cannot be excluded from a 6MMD offer because they have been on treatment for many years getting their refills from their local private pharmacy. Should either of these two things happen, it likely becomes impossible to achieve the 1.5 million target.” 

#MoreARVPillsNow

For more information & media enquiries contact:

Ndivhuwo Rambau | 066 161 1048 | media@tac.org.za 

Notes

* People living with HIV may qualify for 6MMD if:

• They are older than 5 years of age
• They are not pregnant and do not have an infant younger than 1 year old
• They are clinically stable with no TB or any other illness or condition that needs check-ups more frequently than every 6 months
• Their last two viral loads were both undetectable (less than 50 copies/mL)
• They  have been on treatment for at least 12 months
• Their ARV regimen is TLD (Fixed-dose combination of T = Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, L =Lamivudine, D = Dolutegravir (DTG)) and they do not have any other chronic condition
• They want to receive 6-months supply all at once from the clinic