Country Highlights

South Africa has one of the highest rates of HIV infection in the world, with 5.5 million people living with HIV/AIDS. Of this number, currently 225,000 people are receiving antiretroviral treatment (ART). The Government of South Africa has set ambitious plans to scale up treatment, setting a target of 790,000 patients by 2010.

To aid the government of South Africa with its ambitious plan for treatment scale-up, SCMS has identified a need for improvement in information sharing, capacity building, and procurement. 

Our key objectives in South Africa are:

• Information Sharing – Improve the reporting of information from within provinces and into national reporting systems
• Capacity Building – Improve the capacity and capability of provincial warehouses
• Procurement and Distribution – Identify and pursue opportunities to procure drug commodities to meet scale up requirements

Overall, SCMS has a strong presence in South Africa. SCMS has a field office in Pretoria and South Africa’s Pharmaceutical Healthcare Distributors, a subsidiary of SCMS partner Fuel Logistics, holds and delivers medical supplies and drugs to distribution hubs across the region. Partner North-West University provides drug quality assurance, laboratory, and regulatory consultancy services for the project. Additionally, an SCMS regional distribution center (RDC) in Centurion (Gauteng province) supplies essential HIV/AIDS drugs and other commodities to Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. As these countries scale up their HIV/AIDS programs, the RDC can help to ensure a rapid and reliable supply of essential medicines and other products.

Value of commodities delivered locally as of March 2008: close to US$533,000

Progress to date:

• In October 2007 the South African National Defense Force (SANDF) agreed that SCMS would begin procurement of a portion of ARVs for their program. SCMS has received 7 orders from SANDF to date, the first in October 2007 and bi-monthly thereafter.
• In an effort to enhance the current logistics management software in use at the National Department of Health (NDOH) for national condom logistics management, SCMS conducted an assessment of the current system and presented well-received recommendations to the NDOH and USAID. The proposed enhancements will most likely be adapted to the new national condom tender.