Page 20 - Nursing Matters June 2021 Vol 12

The importance of nurses in the

third-line antiretroviral treatment

programme

Ruth Lancaster, BPharm, PharmD (Rhodes)
Affordable Medicines Directorate, National Department of Health, South Africa

South Africa has the largest antiretroviral patients access their ART through primary able to initiate patients on ART. NIMART
treatment (ART) programme in the world healthcare (PHC) facilities. nurses have been trained to deliver a
with 7.5 million people infected with comprehensive package of HIV care,
HIV, of which 6.9 million are accessing With this large population of patients including diagnosis of HIV, prescribing
ART through the public healthcare requiring ART, and with less than one treatment and monitoring progress
1
sector’s HIV programmes. Of these, less doctor per 1000 population , Nurse on ART. Thanks to the high number of
than 1% are currently on third-line ART Initiation Management of ART (NIMART) NIMART nurses trained, and the vital role
(TLART); however, there are likely to be was started in 2010 to alleviate the strain they play, this task shifting has improved
more patients who require TLART but on medical doctors, who initially were access to ART and allowed for early
that have not yet been identified. Most the only cadre of healthcare workers initiation, reduced mortality and improved

HIV Nursing Matters | June 2021 | page 18