South Africa will be among the first countries in the world to receive doses of lenacapavir, the long-acting HIV prevention drug administered once every six months. This was announced by health minister, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, during the Health Budget Vote on Wednesday.
“It is envisaged that the first shipment will reach at least one African country by the end of 2025 – we intend to be such a country and we have already started putting the plan together. Our plan is to offer lenacapavir to young women, and everyone at risk to stay HIV-free,” Motsoaledi says.
Funding gap
The minister says his department has asked the Treasury, as well as other funders for help in the aftermath of the U.S funding cuts, which hit HIV and TB programmes and research. To this end, the National Treasury has released R753 528 000 to be divided as follows:
- R590 407 000.00 for service delivery in provinces to be allocated via the comprehensive HIV/AIDS Component of the District Health Programme Grant.
- R32 121 000.00 to the National Department of Health to support the Central Chronic Medicine Dispensing and Distribution (CCMDD) Programme and pharmaceutical supply chain management.
- R132 000 000.00 to be transferred to the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) to support health researchers around the country.
Motsoaledi explains that the research allocation is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust which have each pledged R100 million.
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“They put a condition – that each R100 million they contribute be matched by R200 million from our own Treasury, and that money be given to researchers. Treasury duly agreed. This means we are going to have a total of R600 million offered to researchers despite PEPFAR having pulled the plug on their work.”
Reversing austerity measures
Other pritiorities the minister highlighted include an allocation of R6,7 billion, “to try and reverse years of austerity measures which have crippled the public health system”. This allocation will be split four ways:
- R 1.7 bn to hire 1 200 doctors, 200 nurses and 250 other health professionals.
- R 1.3 bn to buy 1.4 million articles to make public hospitals hospitable. There will be beds, mattresses, pressure mattresses, bassinets for babies and new hospital linen and towels.
- R 1.4 bn for the permanent employment of 27 000 community health workers who have been in the system for close to two decades but hired through NGOs.
- R 3.75 bn to pay accruals which have accumulated over the years due to tough austerity measures. These will be oxygen supply, blood and blood products, laboratory services, medical equipment and pharmaceuticals.
The overall budget presented by the minister is R64 807 200 and includes extensive plans for the refurbishment and construction of public clinics and hospitals, the replacement of three academic hospitals, and the addition of three new academic hospitals in Mpumalanga, the Northern Cape, and the North West.
