MSF, Western Cape and City of Cape Town Departments of Health, UCT
Celebrate Anniversary of HIV/AIDS Treatment in Khayelitsha with Community Event:

“7 Years on ARVs and Stronger Than Ever”

26 August 2008 – Khayelitsha, South Africa – Seven years after Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the Provincial Government of the Western Cape launched a pioneering HIV/AIDS treatment programme in Khayelitsha, over 10,000 people have successfully been started on life-saving antiretroviral therapy (ART). The ART programme in Khayelitsha, a large township of approximately 500,000 people on the outskirts of Cape Town, is the oldest and one of the largest ART cohorts in the public sector in Africa. As such, it provides an important window into the major clinical and programmatic challenges awaiting other large-scale HIV/AIDS treatment programmes in South Africa and the region.

Today, MSF and the Western Cape Province and City of Cape Town Departments of Health marked the anniversary through a community event entitled “7 Years on ARVs and Stronger Than Ever.” The event was attended by many people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) who have been on ARVs since treatment was introduced in May 2001, as well as representatives of MSF, Provincial and City health departments, the Treatment Action Campaign, and the University of Cape Town.

"The successful collaboration between MSF, the Department of Health, and the University of Cape Town produced an innovative model of care for HIV services in one of the highest burden areas in South Africa and the world," said Dr Giovanni Perez, Director of Metro District Health System for the Khayelitsha and Eastern sub-districts of the Cape Metro. "Seven years later, our experience proves that decentralised HIV/AIDS care integrated into primary care is the optimal model for scaling up access to treatment and maintaining quality of services."

The model of care in Khayelitsha has several pillars, including: decentralisation of ART to primary health care facilities (ART is now available in seven sites); nurse-driven, doctor-supported management of HIV-related conditions and ART; integration of TB and HIV services; and strong community engagement to promote treatment literacy, openness about HIV/AIDS, and empowerment of PLWHAs.

As of August 2008, 10,027 people have been initiated on ART, and 9,309 (93%) are still in care. Of these, 697 (7%) are children. Of the 336 patients started on ART in 2001 and 2002, almost 70% are remaining in care. More than 90% of patients on ART for five years or longer are still on first-line therapy.

"The target of initiating 300 new patients on ART each month has just been reached in the past three months, thanks to further decentralisation to clinics run by the City, and this comes close to reaching 80% of the new need," said Dr Eric Goemaere, Medical Coordinator for MSF in South Africa. Dr Goemaere has been working in Khayelitsha since 1999 and launched the ART programme in 2001. "This strategy has brought ARVs closer to the people in need and shows that further decentralisation to all available facilities as well as nurse-driven HIV services are the only way to achieve the government’s National Strategic Plan objective to reach 80% ART coverage by mid-2011. To reach the estimated 15,000 people in need of ART in Khayelitsha by 2011, we'll need once more to think outside the box."

Download the report: Comprehensive TB/HIV Services at Primary Health Care Level