This, as ARVs have been out of stock in a number of public health facilities, and patients are reportedly being turned away. Clinics and hospitals in the Free State and the North West are amongst some of the facilities where a severe shortage of stocks have been reported in the past months.

According to Positive Action Campaigns’ Free State General Secretary, Sello Mokhalipi, the shortage of ARVs in the province is a growing concern. In a statement he says for the past two months they have been receiving calls from patients struggling to access their HIV treatment due to a shortage of critical medication at public facilities in and around Bloemfontein.

The group, advocating for access to quality healthcare services, says the situation at many public facilities is getting worse and there is a need for urgent intervention.

This comes just weeks after the group shut down the Bloemspruit clinic in an effort to highlight the plight faced at this facility. Meanwhile, the national Department of Health says they are aware of reports of shortages, but refutes allegations that there is a major shortage of ARVs and injectable contraceptives in the country.

The Department’s Popo Maja in a statement says a team has been put together to look into the department’s pharmaceutical management system, and that in a case where there is a shortage, stock may be sourced from another facility or patients should be referred to another clinic.

OFM News