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Abstract
Are pharmaceutical services in the public sector ready for the implementation of antiretroviral treatment on a large scale?
J P Sallet1, G Steel2
1MSH/RPM Plus, Pretoria, South Africa; 2Department of Health, East London, South Africa
Issues: In November 2003, the South African government announced its antiretroviral treatment plan to be implemented on a large scale within the public sector. This posed a tremendous challenge for pharmaceutical services to successfully support this programme.
Description: Between February 1997 and September 2003, the Equity Project has assisted the Department of Health in the Eastern Cape Province in assessing and strengthening pharmaceutical services. This includes; training of service providers in drug supply at facility level; comprehensive assessment of the whole drug supply chain; development of provincial formularies; implementation of drug and therapeutic committees; assessment of human resources requirement and capability; development and standardization of both manual and computerized inventory and financial management systems.
Lessons Learnt: Integration of pharmaceutical services into other health care services is key to the successful delivery of comprehensive package of care; pharmacists are required at district/sub-district levels to supervise and monitor drug supply systems and train personnel; the category of personnel should be compatible with the level of the service delivered (e.g. pharmacy assistants in rural clinics); drug use and therapeutic monitoring is important at all levels; poor coordination with other support services (e.g. transportation) impact directly on the drug supply chain; new systems implementation requires long term committment.
Recommendations: In order to implement ART on a large scale, pharmacy services need to be strengthen in terms of human resources needs; pharmacists must form part of the health team; incentives should be implemented to attract and retain pharmacists in rural areas; drug and therapeutic committees must be established at district level to monitor prescriber practices and report adverse drug reactions; new avenue like public-private partnership should be explored to strengthen procurement and distribution systems; pharmacy school curriculum should be updated to include ARV treatment.
The XV International AIDS Conference
Abstract no.
ThPeB7181
Suggested Citation
" J P Sallet , , et al.
Are pharmaceutical services in the public sector ready for the implementation of antiretroviral treatment on a large scale?.
Poster Exhibition:
The XV International AIDS Conference:
Abstract no.
ThPeB7181"
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