No ARV patients missing, says Gauteng Health

The Gauteng Department of Health has denied that there are any missing patients on antiretroviral treatment in the province.

Johannesburg - The Gauteng Department of Health has denied that there are any missing patients on antiretroviral treatment (ART) in the province.

DA MPL Jack Bloom made the accusation of missing patients on Monday after going through the department’s second quarter report, covering July to September this year.

The report was released in the Gauteng legislature.

Bloom said 71 289 HIV/Aids patients on antiretrovirals (ARVs) had “gone missing” from the books.

“According to the report, there are 723 454 adult patients remaining on ARV treatment as opposed to the target of 788 160, which indicates a “possible loss to follow-up of 64 706 patients”.

Furthermore, 27 691 of 34 274 targeted children remained on ARV treatment, which indicates 6 583 missing children with interrupted ARV treatment”.

But department spokesperson Steve Mabona said according to its records, no patient was missing on the follow-up and that the 788 160 figure was the “stretched target” the department had set in line with the 90-90-90 strategy.

“The number of patients on treatment cannot be deducted from the set target. The presentation was trying to show an ideal situation, which is not the case. The actual number of patients on treatment is 723 454,” he said.

The department also conceded in the report that there was poor record-keeping and data-quality management as well as incomplete data.

Mabona said: “To continue managing the quality of ART data throughout the province, the department has introduced data-quality teams to verify statistics, record-keeping as well as strengthening data validations at source where data is generated and captured. The Joburg district is being prioritised as it has the highest number of patients on ART.”

vuyo.mkize@inl.co.za

The Star