Shocking news has reached us from South Africa in recent days. The political turnaround announced by the new President Cyril Ramaphosa when he took office in February is hitting the work of the Ndlovu Care Group and the clinic’s patients with full force.
New government withdraws permission for NGOs to issue ARVs
We have been informed that the new Ministry of Health has decided to authorize the distribution of free ARVs (antiretrovirals) for HIV patients only in government clinics. NGOs offering help in this area will have their permission withdrawn and will be required to transfer all HIV patients requiring this medication to state clinics.
3,700 NCG patients to be transferred to state clinics
In the case of the Ndlovu Care Group, this affects 3700 patients. Programs and projects such as the audiology clinic services, the research center and the rehabilitation center for the disabled are not affected. All social facilities will also continue to operate: Children and youth projects, feeding stations, Miracle Theater, Ndlovu Youth Choir, etc. However, the care of HIV patients is still the most important medical program of the Ndlovu Care Group, because only through consistent and controlled medication is it possible to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa. The state clinics are already hopelessly overcrowded with patients and are grateful for the relief provided by NGOs. Patients are usually sent home without treatment because there is simply no space, no medication or no time. The patients concerned are accordingly horrified and are fighting against this decision.
The short-sightedness of this decision and injustice against its own people is incomprehensible. We call on you to support the protests and to share this information and the following statement by Dr. Hugo Tempelman, CEO of Ndlovu Care Group, widely on social media:
Statement from Dr. Hugo Tempelman CEO Ndlovu Care Group dated April 21, 2018
On Thursday, the Human Rights Commission visited the Ndlovu Care Group and learned about the situation of the clinic and the free ARV-TB program of the Ndlovu Care Group. They understand the predicament we are in – transferring patients to a public health system at a stage that cannot even absorb the volume of people. They also visited the clinics that Ndlovu would have to refer to and heard that the nurses are overworked and the situation is generally understaffed.
On Thursday, South African Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi even confirmed at the Health Committee meeting in Parliament that no patient will be referred without his consent.
On Friday, the Executive Committee (ExCo) of the Ndlovu Care Group visited the Ministry of Health in Polokwane and was received by the DRG Kgaphole, the DDG (Deputy Director General) Dr. Dombo and the HIV AIDS STI Team (HAST) Manager Kobola to discuss the situation and see if we could find a way forward.
It was an incredible experience to see how deeply the NCG ExCo was insulted by not being offered any contract at all beyond the first of April. All promises were withdrawn. Instead, the Limpopo Provincial Department of Health is demanding a proper handover, yet they do not want to provide any operational money for this immense task.
The Ministry is still not aware that the real issue is the long-term provision of quality health care for the patients currently being treated at Ndlovu Care Group. It is about the capacity that the ministry demands and the capacity that is actually available. The professional nurses in the clinics do not dare to approach their superiors, but they are very afraid of the additional workload in their already overburdened systems.
Issues such as extended waiting times, infection control, enough consulting rooms, data filing, enough administrative and data entry staff, are aspects that need to be seriously discussed, but the ministry has not even widely addressed this …
The ministry still has no operational plan on how to admit the patientsand cannot show us how they will handle the admission of the Ndlovu Transferred Out patients in their clinics. How will the capacity be created in the clinics and how will this be properly integrated?
The ExCo of Ndlovu Care Group decided to leave the meeting as there was nothing more to discuss than this inappropriate offer and they didn’t even understand what the actual task was.
After some back and forth, it was decided to continue the meeting, but Dr. Tempelman refused to come back because it wasn’t worth it. Two hours later, the team returned from the meeting disappointed as the only thing offered was a three-month extension to help transfer patients to the three clinics as previously discussed.
A very disappointing outcome to a meeting that Ndlovu Care Group had high expectations for. Ndlovu Care Groups ExCo had hopes for a discussion in which the leadership of the Ministry of Health would begin to understand that it is not about Ndlovu.
It is about a responsible transfer of 3700 HIV patients to a public healthcare system that is able to guarantee the same quality of services that patients currently receive in the long term.
It’s about 42 jobs of wonderful people who all come from the area where they work. Who after all these years become unemployed with no prospect of a job in an area with over 55% unemployment. The Ministry of Health does not even want to consider hiring them to quickly increase its capacity in the clinics to ensure the intake of new patients. Ndlovu Care Group cannot understand the short-sightedness.
Ndlovu Care Group is served with a court summons in the Polokwane High Court, with Ndlovu Care Group being the second defendant to appear in court. The court case is brought by three affected patients and the application is brought against the Limpopo Regional Health Minister, Dr. Pophi Ramathuba, who was listed as the first defendant.
The application will be placed on the priority list of May 3, 2018. We are waiting for the results.
