The Vital Work of TAC: Fighting for HIV Healthcare Access in South Africa

In the face of significant US funding cuts, the Treatment Action Campaign (also referred to as TAC) continues its crucial work advocating for HIV treatment access and healthcare accountability across South Africa. Recently, Sibongile from TAC shared insights about their organization's impact and the challenges they're currently facing.

With nearly 10,000 members and 280 branches throughout South Africa, TAC has developed an effective system for monitoring healthcare facilities. Their approach includes:

Peer educators visiting clinics to assess facility conditions

Interviews with facility managers to identify challenges

Direct conversations with patients living with HIV about service quality

Monitoring stock availability, particularly for medications like PrEP

Community accountability meetings bringing patients face-to-face with healthcare providers

This comprehensive monitoring system has collected data from over 350,000 public healthcare users, including 200,000 people living with HIV. Through their efforts, TAC has identified critical issues such as patients spending excessive time at facilities (5-6 hours) and key populations facing stigma and discrimination when accessing care.

Despite TAC's achievements, Sibongile highlighted several ongoing challenges in South Africa's public healthcare system:

Shortage of human resources

Inadequate infrastructure

Limited equipment for healthcare workers

Poor working conditions for staff

Continued stigma affecting key and vulnerable populations

TAC's approach often includes direct action campaigns when necessary. A recent example in Northwest province resulted in increased access to 3-6 month medication supplies rather than the standard 1-2 month dispensing. Their World AIDS Day march to East London advocating for six-month medication dispensing also yielded positive results, with the government implementing policy changes.

The recent US funding cuts have created significant challenges:

Loss of experienced healthcare workers who had built relationships with patients

Potential increase in facility waiting times

Disruption to HIV prevention efforts, including PrEP access

Concerns about rising infection rates and patients falling out of care

Closure of specialized clinics, particularly those serving LGBTIQ+ communities

 Sibongile emphasized that South African law does not permit turning away patients who previously received care at facilities that have now closed due to funding cuts. Anyone experiencing such issues should report them immediately.

For those wanting to connect with TAC or support their vital work:

Call: 011 100 4721

Visit: tac.org.za

As Sibongile reminds us: "Don't leave the clinic without being serviced. Everyone has a right to medication, to quality healthcare services."

TAC's decades-long fight for HIV treatment access has saved millions of lives, and their continued advocacy remains essential, especially during this funding crisis. Their commitment to documenting healthcare issues and advocating for solutions ensures that patients' rights to quality healthcare aren't compromised, even in challenging times.

Click on the video below to hear more about the work TAC does.

Presenter: Jasnine Roberts

Producer: Lydia M