Article Sidebar
Published:
Jun 1, 2012Article Details
The author(s) retain copyright on work published by AOSIS unless specified otherwise.
Licensing and publishing rights
Author(s) of work published by AOSIS are required to grant AOSIS the unlimited rights to publish the definitive work in any format, language and medium, for any lawful purpose. AOSIS requires journal authors to publish their work in open access under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.
Read more here: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
The authors retain the non-exclusive right to do anything they wish with the published article(s), provided attribution is given to the applicable journal with details of the original publication, as set out in the official citation of the article published in the journal. The retained right specifically includes the right to post the article on the authors’ or their institution’s websites or in institutional repositories.
Previously published work may have been published under a different licence. We advise the community that if they would like to reuse the work to consult the applicable licence at article level.
Main Article Content
Access to antiretroviral treatment in South Africa, 2004 - 2011
Abstract
Background. South Africa’s National Strategic Plan (NSP) for 2007 - 2011 aimed to achieve new antiretroviral treatment (ART) enrolment numbers equal to 80% of the number of newly eligible individuals in each year, by 2011.
Objectives. To estimate ART coverage in South Africa and assess whether NSP targets have been met.
Methods. ART data were collected from public and private providers of ART. Estimates of HIV incidence rates were obtained from independent demographic projection models. Adult ART data and incidence estimates were entered into a separate model that estimated rates of progression through CD4 stages, and the model was fitted to South African CD4 data and HIV prevalence data.
Results. By the middle of 2011, the number of patients receiving ART in South Africa had increased to 1.79 million (95% CI 1.65 - 1.93 million). Adult ART coverage, at the previous ART eligibility criterion of CD4 <200/ìl, was 79% (95% CI 70 - 85%), but reduced to 52% (95% CI 46 - 57%) when assessed according to the new South African ART eligibility criteria (CD4<350/ìl). The number of adults starting ART in 2010/11 was 1.56 times (95% CI 1.08 - 1.97) the number of adults who became ART-eligible in 2010/11, well in excess of the 80% target. However, this ratio was substantially higher in women (1.96, 95% CI 1.33 - 2.51) than in men (1.23, 95% CI 0.83 -1.58) and children (1.13, 95% CI 0.74 - 1.48).
Conclusion. South Africa has exceeded the ART targets in its 2007 - 2011 NSP, but men and children appear to be accessing ART at a lower rate than women.
