The department said the nine drugs were needed for it to be able to implement the Comprehensive Plan on the Management, Care and Treatment of HIV and AIDS approved by Cabinet last year.
The needed drugs are Nevirapine, Stavudine, Lamivudine, Efavirenz, Zidovudine, Didanosine, Lopinavir/ritonavir, Ritonavir and Indinavir.
Health department spokesperson Sibani Mngadi said these drugs should be registered with the Medicines Control Council (MCC) and should be supplied in accordance with the Medicines and Related Substances Act and the Pharmacy Act.
The notice would also be issued in the weekend media.
"The Department of Health will give preference to firms or consortia that promote development such as local manufacture and the manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) in South Africa as well as broad based Black Economic Empowerment principles," said Mngadi.
Written expressions of interest must be submitted before February 27.
Firms or consortia that will express interest are also invited to a briefing session to be held in Pretoria on March 9.
Mngadi said government was committed to ensuring that the Comprehensive Plan on HIV and Aids as approved by Cabinet was implemented. "Our aim on this particular aspect of the Plan, is to secure the best possible drug procurement contract(s) and to ensure that our drug supply channels are reliable and meet the objectives of the Comprehensive Plan on HIV and Aids," he explained.
The drugs will be administered to people who are symptomatic and/or whose CD4 count are less than 200 as not everyone who is HIV-positive requires the drugs.
According to the plan, there will be at least one accredited service point providing the drugs in every health district across the country, within this year.
And within five years, it is envisaged there will be one accredited service point in every local municipality.
However, some areas will be able to start sooner than others, and the health department has promised to keep the public informed on the progress of the rollout.
The facilities - a group or network of linked health facilities operating through a hospital or clinic in a defined catchment area - will provide diagnosis, counselling and treatment for opportunistic infections, nutritional supplements as well as ARVs.
Cabinet explained the plan would be introduced in stages as it called for additional capacity in the national health system, particularly retaining staff and capacitating the country's laboratories.
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has emphasised that these "far-reaching" decisions meant stepping up the HIV and Aids prevention campaign so the 40 million South Africans not infected stayed that way. – BuaNews.
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