Date: 18/11/2002
Source: Western Cape Provincial Government
Title: Van Schalkwyk: Gugulethu Community Health Centre


EXTRACT FROM REMARKS TO MEDIA BY WESTERN CAPE PREMIER, MARTHINUS VAN SCHALKWYK, AT THE GUGULETHU COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTRE ON 18 NOVEMBER 2002

TRIPLE THERAPY TREATMENTS:
EXTENDING THE LIVES OF PEOPLE LIVING WITH AIDS

On 18 July this year, exactly four months ago, Minister Meyer and I announced the launch of a groundbreaking pilot project at this centre - anti-retroviral triple therapy treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS. I am very pleased today, to be back at the Gugulethu Community Health Centre to hand over 3TC, D4T, and Nevirapine, three of the drugs used in triple therapy - to Ms Nomonde Qezu.

Ms Qezu is one of the 24 people who are approaching the stage of readiness, in terms of education counselling and preparation, to begin their course of triple therapy. They will soon join the 16 men and women already being treated. It is our plan to have the full complement of 150 participants on triple therapy treatment by April next year.

There are an estimated 12000-15000 patients already receiving triple-therapy in the private health sector - but such treatment is simply unaffordable for the vast majority of HIV-positive South Africans. It is a very positive sign that some of the larger corporations in South Africa, like Anglo American and De Beers, have announced triple therapy programmes for their employees - and that major pharmaceutical manufacturers like GlaxoSmithKline have partnered with them in fighting this battle. It is time though for the public health sector to follow suit.

The Provincial Government of the Western Cape is particularly excited by the potential of this pilot project - shifting as it does the emphasis exclusively from HIV/AIDS prevention, to the treatment of people living with AIDS. World-wide scientific evidence indicates that a course of treatment, such as the one being piloted here at Gugulethu, could extend the lives of people with AIDS by as much as 5-7 years, or longer. In so doing, these men and women will be empowered to continue caring for their families, and living productive lives.

One of the key approaches being adopted by our medical team at Gugulethu is the commitment to 'securing the family'. This means that, should a family member of a patient already being treated become infected, they will receive preferential treatment themselves in order to secure the family as a unit - to sustain one another, and to ensure that individuals are not treated in isolation.

In addition to the benefits to the participants in the pilot project, this programme will also create a pool of experience and clinical knowledge about triple therapy in our local pool of medical personnel - which in turn will be of great value when shared with medical facilities around the country.

On behalf of the Provincial Government and the people of the Western Cape I would like to thank Dr Catherine Orrell and her outstanding team of doctors, nurses, and peer counsellors who are running the pilot project for us. I would also like to thank Crusaid, our donors from the United Kingdom,whose generous funding of R8 million has made the programme possible. Above all though, I would like to thank people like Nomonde Qezu, who have taken the decision to be open about their HIV-status and treatment in order to raise awareness about this pandemic.

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Office of the Premier18 November 2002