The government will begin providing Gilead’s HIV prevention shot, lenacapavir, on June 5, health minister Aaron Motsoaledi announced in his budget speech to parliament on Wednesday.
Lenacapavir has been hailed as a potential game-changer in the fight against HIV as the twice-yearly injection provides users with almost perfect protection against the virus. Hopes are running high that it will help slow the rate of new infections in South Africa, which is home to an estimated 8-million people living with the disease, or 17% of the world’s burden.
“We are in a position where we dare say we can eliminate HIV/Aids as a public health threat by 2030. All we have to do is to work hard … together as South Africans, motivated by a common bond and … a common destiny,” said Motsoaledi.
While the first batch of almost 38,000 doses of lenacapavir arrived in South Africa in early April, access to the shots has been delayed by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority’s requirements for postimportation testing.
The health department’s rollout of lenacapavir prioritises health districts with high HIV incidence and restricts the offer to pregnant and breastfeeding women, adolescent girls and young women, men who have sex with men, transgender people and injecting drug users. It expects to start about 229,360 people on lenacapavir in the first year.
“In the next two weeks, we will be delivering lenacapavir stocks to depots and health facilities, starting with 360 health facilities in the high [HIV] burden districts,” said Motsoaledi.
He also announced that the health department will submit 11 bids to the Treasury’s Budget Facility for Infrastructure to upgrade public hospitals, five of them in Gauteng. These include George Mukhari Academic Hospital and district hospitals in Shoshanguve, Diepsloot, Thabang and Eldorado Park.
During the debate on his speech, Motsoaledi drew fire over the poor state of public healthcare and widespread corruption.
EFF MP Naledi Chirwa expressed scepticism about the health department’s capacity to protect infrastructure projects from corruption.
“In Mpumalanga we were promised a state-of-the-art hospital over six years ago. Three billion has been spent to date and yet there’s still no hospital,” she said.
Rise Mzansi chief whip Makashule Gana said every official responsible for procurement should be subject to a lifestyle audit. “Public health care cannot become a feeding trough for corruption,” he said.
Motsoaledi was also criticised by the DA’s Karl le Roux for questioning the impartiality of the Constitutional Court judges presiding over challenges to the National Health Insurance (NHI) Act. The minister said the judges were conflicted because they were members of Parmed Medical Scheme and beneficiaries of private healthcare, according to a News24 report.
“Instead of questioning the impartiality and fairness of the judges on the Constitutional Court, why don’t you remove section 33 of the NHI Act, reform the private health care sector in line with the health market inquiry recommendations and start working on a financially and practically viable NHI?” Le Roux asked.
Section 33 of the NHI Act contains controversial provisions that limit medical schemes to only providing cover for services not offered by NHI.
The DA said it will submit a question to President Cyril Ramaphosa asking whether he is satisfied that Motsoaledi’s conduct meets the standards set out in the executive ethics code and, if not, whether he will refer the matter to the public protector for further investigation.
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