E-drug: New article on ARV Delivery in South Africa (2)
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[There are very fast developments in ARV treatment in South Africa. See for
example, the long-awaited Treasury-DOH report, which is now available online
at http://www.gov.za/issues/hiv/ttr/index.html.
The 82-page report itself is at
http://www.gov.za/reports/2003/ttr010803final.pdf
Below also a review of just 2 weeks ARV discussions in South Africa -
crossposted with thanks from DRUGINFO. WB]
Hi all
This HEALTH-E story by Anso Thom neatly captures the extraordinary shifts
that have occurred in the past few weeks - it's worth reflecting for a
moment on how this impacts on the very core of the drug policy process: many
of the issues flagged for attention in the operational plan are in fact
those that the 1996 National Drug Policy sought to address; the drug price
issues will now really test the impact of Act 90. The one element that still
concerns me is the degree to which the national medicines selection
structures seem to have been sidelined - as with the post rape PEP
decisions, the power seems to reside in the vertical programme, not in the
EDL Committee. How HIV is catered for in the amended PHC level EDL/STGs
(soon to be released) and in the hospital level books that will follow is
going to be a crucial test. Top management from that Cluster is certainly
well positioned - Ms Hela on the HIV treatment task team (together with Ms
Matsoso from the MRA), Dr Zokufa on the Pricing Committee.
regards
Andy Gray