The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) will be monitoring the readiness of public health facilities in Moutse before the Department of Health begins the process of transferring HIV patients from the Ndlovu Care Group into health facilities of their choice, reports Health-e News. SAHRC commissioner Victor Mavhidula said this was necessary in order to avoid another Life Esidimeni crisis, and so all health facilities will have to be properly ready before the transfer can take place.
The report says Ndlovu Care Group is an NGO which distributes ARVs to HIV positive patients in Moutse near Groblersdal in Sekhukhune. Currently, they roll out ARVs to 3,501 patients in the Moutse area. The Health Department has not renewed its contract with the Ndlovu Care Group and is now planning to absorb all the patients into the public health facilities. The report says this decision led to a dispute between the two parties. The department has given Ndlovu Care Group three months to hand over the list of patients who will have to now start collecting their medication from local public health facilities.
Earlier this week the Health Department and Ndlovu Care Group met and signed a memorandum of understanding and the SAHRC will monitor its implementation. It was agreed that the Health Department will have to approach the office of health standards compliance to assess the state of readiness of healthcare facilities in Moutse that will have to accommodate patients from Ndlovu Care Group.
Mavhidula said “We have to make sure that everything is ready before the patients can be moved. The mediation went well and all that is left is for the two parties to implement what was agreed on. The infrastructure in public health facilities will be monitored to make sure that they are ready to accommodate patients who will be transferred to them and patients should only be transferred to a public health facility of their own choice.”
Health Department spokesperson Neil Shikwambana said they welcome the outcomes of the mediation.
[link url="https://www.health-e.org.za/2018/05/22/limpopo-health-cut-ties-with-arvs-distributor/"]Health-e News report[/link]