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ARV roll-out 'going smoothly'
01/04/2004 17:13 - (SA)
Johannesburg - The roll-out of treatment for HIV/Aids in Gauteng started smoothly on Thursday, with five hospitals dispensing free antiretroviral drugs to patients.
Health department spokesperson Simon Zwane said the patients who would be receiving the drugs had already been told they qualified.
"They went to hospital to receive final counselling, and then they were put on the treatment."
There were no unexpected patients, he said.
He said all patients treated for HIV/Aids with antiretrovirals would receive extensive counselling on how the drugs had to be taken, possible side effects, what they should do, and the nutrition they would need.
Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa visited Johannesburg Hospital and Chris Hani Baragwanath to talk to staff and patients about the roll-out.
Top brass visit participating hospitals
Shilowa assured patients this would be a sustainable programme, said Zwane, and said the province planned to have 23 institutions dispensing these drugs by this time next year.
Health MEC Gwen Ramokgopa visited Helen Joseph and Coronation hospitals, said Zwane, and the head of the health department, Letitia Rispel, was at Kalafong Hospital on Wednesday.
"We are sure that the roll-out has started smoothly in all five hospitals," said Zwane.
Gauteng announced its HIV/Aids treatment programme in March this year. It is the third province to start dispensing free antiretroviral drugs to people living with HIV/Aids.
- SAPA
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