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Gove rnment has accredited at least 27 sites that will provide antiretrovirals (ARVs) to people living with AIDS in the country.

This as part of the Comprehensive Plan for the Management, Care and Treatment of HIV and AIDS approved by Cabinet last November.

In a statement yesterday, the Department of Health said accreditation teams had visited health facilities in various provinces for the second time as part of the accreditation process.

"In line with our undertaking to update the public on every step in the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan, we are today able to announce some of the facilities that have been accredited," said spokesperson Sibani Mngadi.

Last week, a meeting between Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang and all the Health MECs resolved to obtain ARVs through a national quotation system as a temporary measure.

This while a national tender process was underway, with 40 pharmaceutical companies, which have until tomorrow to submit their proposals, having expressed interest in this regard.

Mr Mngadi said however the process to accredit the service sites was revealing "major" gaps in the country's national health system.

According to him, the system still lacked good patient information systems, comprehensive network of lab services, recruitment and retention of medical staff and a baseline survey to establish the starting points.

"The department is concerned about the state of readiness of the service sites and the need to ensure that training on the comprehensive plan is done in line with the recently approved national treatment protocol and guidelines.

"Therefore we are making every effort to address these deficiencies and to strengthen the national health system, as a whole," said Mr Mngadi.

He said in general, some facilities had met the basic requirements for accreditation to provide the interventions listed in the comprehensive plan and these would begin admitting patients.

These facilities will begin testing patients for HIV and fitness, and perform laboratory tests such as CD4 counts and viral load, to assess the clinical stage and establish the progression of the disease.

They will also be providing interventions that delay the progression of the disease, including nutritional and micronutrient supplementations, providing complementary and traditional medicines and improving step down referral facilities for patients.

The facilities will also be ensuring that patients who qualify and prefer antiretroviral therapy are prepared for treatment, which means undergoing a treatment literacy programme to ensure that when they commence treatment, they will adhere to treatment requirements.

Meanwhile, the accredited facilities include Bongani Hospital in the Free State, Kalafong, Helen Joseph, Coronation, Johannesburg and Chris Hani Baragwanath hospitals in Gauteng and King Edward VIII, Addington Mahatma Gandhi, Church of Scotland, Ngwelezane, Stanger, Benedictine and Kokstad (EG Usher) hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal.

In Limpopo, the hospitals are Mapulaneng, Mokopane, Tshilidzini, St Rita, Mankweng and Letaba and in Mpumalanga the facilities include Themba, Shongwe, Philadelphia, Witbank, Bethal and Evander hospitals.

Only Kimberly Hospital has been accredited in the Northern Cape.

Mr Sibani said the accreditation process was still underway with the sites in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape to be visited during the first and second weeks of April, respectively.

"More sites will be announced in due course, as the accreditation team accredits them," he explained - BuaNews.

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