As effective management of HIV continues to be a cause of concern in the country, a combination of strategies, including innovative programmes by the private sector, can mitigate the impact of the virus through reducing viral load and preventing transmission.
This also can be more effective through private sector-led HIV management programmes, which provide a crucial thread of continuity while responses are urgently sought to funding cuts that severely constrain public sector and NGO treatment of the disease.
Impact of funding disruptions
According to the general manager of Aid for AIDS (AfA), Maria Rambauli, who oversees one of the largest private disease management groups globally, the disruptions to HIV management programmes are likely to have a profound impact beyond the lives of HIV-positive people to include families and employers.
“Successful management of HIV requires a holistic programme that extends beyond provision of antiretroviral therapy to constant monitoring, maintenance and real-time support for patients. Disruptions to this positive cycle of interventions place at risk the health outcomes that have been achieved over the past few decades,” said Rambauli.
US president Donald Trump had cut HIV aid in South Africa and in the African continent. The role, which is currently played by the private sector in the country to fund HIV management for employees of corporates and medical scheme members through organisations such as Aid for AIDS, is a burden that would otherwise fall on the public healthcare sector and can be managed and controlled.
Rambauli said that AfA programmes deployed for corporates and medical schemes help to ensure that people needing care are able to stay economically active and continue to support themselves and their families. She pointed out that her organisation has estimated that private sector management programmes have spared both the private and public sector substantial amounts by easing the burden of care for both sectors.
Organisations developing responses
“It seems unlikely right now that straight funding replacements can be found for NGO and public healthcare programmes. All organisations, both private and public, are developing responses. But we must acknowledge that there may need to be fundamental changes to how public and private sectors collaborate in managing HIV,” said Rambauli.
She also stated that her belief is that the private healthcare sector can offer significant support to a wider range of companies as well as the public sector in terms of cost and outcomes through enhanced collaboration and sharing of best practices.
AfA has developed unrivalled clinical expertise and disease management insights since its founding in 1998. The clinical expertise developed has also contributed to advances in innovative HIV management. This through several peer-reviewed research papers published in international academic journals.
Rambauli said that more recent innovations in the form of AI and other digital tools are beginning to be brought to bear on AfA’s unique set of 27 years of data with the intention of sharing new insights widely.
Mitigating the impact
“All of us involved in the treatment and management of HIV now have a necessity-driven opportunity to put our heads together in responding to the serious challenges created by the withdrawal of aid funding.
“Any drop-off in the provision of public sector and NGOs, HIV management programmes will also have an impact on the private sector. But if we are proactive and collaborative, there is much that private and public healthcare can do to mitigate the worst impacts of the HIV funding crisis,” said Rambauli.
