Westville Prison accredited to provide ARVs

Issued by Department of Health

21 September 2006

The Department of Health is pleased to confirm that the health facility at the Westville Correctional Service Centre has been accredited to provide antiretroviral treatment. This follows extensive work done by the Department of Correctional Services to strengthen the capacity of the facility to ensure that it meets the requirement to safely administer this therapy.

This brings to four the number of correctional service facilities that have been accredited to provide antiretroviral drugs. The others are Grootvlei Prison in Free State, Qalakabusha Prison (Empangeni) and Pietermaritzburg Prison both in KwaZulu-Natal.

The accreditation team from the National Health Department visited the Westville facility on Friday September 15, for evaluation and it is satisfied that it meets the requirements to be accredited to provide antiretroviral therapy.

Government is committed to ensure that offenders have access to health care that is commensurate with the level of care they could have accessed, had they been free men and women.

The Comprehensive Plan on Management, Care and Treatment of HIV and AIDS developed by the Department of Health and adopted by Cabinet in November 2003, set norms and standards for the accreditation of service points to ensure that comprehensive HIV and AIDS care and treatment of the highest available quality can be delivered. This approach is necessary because of the complexity of the programme to administer antiretroviral drugs safely and effectively.

A total of 262 health facilities have been inspected and accredited in the country. At least 178 635 people have been initiated on antiretroviral therapy by June 2006.

The requirement for accreditation include:

• Availability of a trained care team on-site with representation of all relevant professions (clinicians, nurses, and counsellors),
• Easy access to laboratory, pharmacy and nutritional staff, and links to NGOs and other service providers.
• The care team should consist of sufficient staff in appropriate ratios to manage the projected number of patients
• Appropriate space for consultation, treatment and counselling to assure patient confidentiality
• Access to appropriate laboratory services (for CD4 count, viral load and other tests)
• Secure and adequate pharmacy storage appropriate to handle Schedule 5 drugs.
• Formal referral systems and links with other health operations and social support services

The Department of Health is committed to assist facilities to strengthen their capacity to provide comprehensive treatment, care and support services for people living with HIV and AIDS.

This includes voluntary counseling and testing, promotion of healthy lifestyle including good nutrition to prolong progression from HIV infection to full-blown AIDS. Nutrition is NOT an alternative to treatment. Antiretroviral drugs can prolong lives of those with full blown AIDS and the Department of Health is making these drugs available in at least 262 accredited health facilities in the country.

Contact: Sibani Mngadi @ 0827720161