A major benefit for those living with the deadly disease is that it allows for the provision of antiretroviral therapy (ARV) at public health facilities.
The plan, approved by Cabinet in November last year, aims to provide comprehensive care and treatment for people living with HIV and AIDS, and to help strengthen the country's national health system.
Today, provincial Health MEC Gwen Ramokgopa and Premier Mbhazima Shilowa visited the Johannesburg and Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital to check the facilities' state-of-readiness to implement the plan.
The hospitals are part of the five that have been accredited to roll out the programme, together with Coronation, Kalafong and Helen Joseph.
An HIV positive patient at Johannesburg Hospital was overjoyed that he would now be able to receive the life-enhancing treatment, saying his prayers had been answered.
The 27-year-old, who chose to remain anonymous, tested HIV positive in October last year and currently has a CD 4 count of 33, a critical stage which makes it suitable for ARV treatment as the drugs are only administered to people whose CD4 count is less than 200.
"Since I tested positive, I've been praying that ARVs would be made available before I died," he said.
His girlfriend and two-year old daughter who are HIV positive as well are still very healthy and do not require treatment.
"Receiving the treatment means a lot to me as I have a child to raise. I want to be there for her first day of school and her first day of tertiary education and I need to be healthy to do that," he said.
Visiting Johannesburg and Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospitals today, Premier Mbhazima Shilowa reiterated that although ARVs were being rolled out, not everyone with HIV would receive it.
"Not everyone who is HIV positive requires ARV treatment but where a patients CD 4 cell count hovered around 200, the individual would then be introduced to it," he said.
Premier Shilowa added the programme would run as a pilot for the next 12 months, and depending on public response and departmental capacity, ways of expanding it would then be explored.
"In relation to capacity building, we will be employing 5 000 extra health workers over the next three years to ensure the success of the programme," he said.
An amount of R95 million has been allocated to the implementation of the treatment plan in the coming financial year, which includes R45 million from the national treasury and R50 million from the provincial grant.
The implementation starts in the five institutions in the first quarter of this year and will expand to reach 23 identified health institutions in the province by the end of the 2004/2005 financial year.
The first institutions to be affected by the implementation plan are Johannesburg, Chris Hani Baragwanath, Helen Joseph, Coronation and Kalafong Hospitals.
The aim of the department is to reach 10 000 people by the end of March 2005 - BuaNews.
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