Issued by the Ministry of Health
19 February 2002
The Minister of Health has been drawn to the announcement made by the Premier of Gauteng province on the use of Nevirapine in his province. The Minister finds the statement to be contrary to the resolution adopted by all MECs for Health and the Minister during the Minmec meeting last month.
At the meeting, it was resolved that provincial MECs for Health will take the report of the data collected at their respective research sites for further study and consultation in order to formulate an appropriate response in line with the national protocols on the management of mother-to-child-transmission of HIV.
In the Minister's view, Gauteng Premier's announcement is therefore in breach of that resolution as well as the earlier Minmec decisions setting out the envisaged roll out programme based on the experiences and lessons learnt from the agreed upon research sites.
The Ministry therefore disassociates itself from Gauteng's pronouncement on MTCT based on these reasons.
Queries: Sibani Mngadi at 0827720161