South Africa is on the brink of allowing pharmacists holding the required permits to prescribe and initiate HIV medicines without people first having to get scripts from doctors or nurses.
The initiative, known as Pharmacist-Initiated Management of ART or PIMART, seeks to improve linkage to HIV treatment and prevention therapy among under-reached and underserved groups and communities. South Africa’s PIMART programme will be the first of its kind globally - potentially paving the way for other countries to follow suit.
Linking men to treatment earlier
South Africa has the largest HIV antiretroviral treatment (ART) programme in the world. Over seven million people in the country are living with HIV - over five million of whom are on ART.
In a global first, South African pharmacists will soon
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South Africa: Access to HIV Prophylaxis At Pharmacies Not As Easy It Seems
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First published by Daily Maverick 168 weekly newspaper
Maverick Citizen, using a pseudonym, emailed and phoned 31 pharmacies across the country, asking them whether they were able to assist with access to post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) counselling and antiretroviral medication.
These pharmacies were selected because they are listed on the #4EachOther website, or websites promoted by various organisations, including the HIV Clinicians Experts website, as pharmacies that participate in the PEP and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) programme for HIV prevention. Fifty-eight percent of these pharmacies did not respond to our email query. While 61% answered the phone, only 32% said they were able to assist.
#4EachOther is spearheaded by Expanding Access to PrEP and ARVs Innovation Consortium (EPIC). EPIC is led and managed by the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society (SAHCS), in partnership with consortium members the Independent Community Pharmacy Association (ICPA), Ezintsha, Digital