Speaking at the Inaugural Private Sector HIV and AIDS Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Seminar held on 12^th March in Johannesburg, Minister of Health, Barbara Hogan, said "workers who are retrenched are moving from the private to the public sector health system without proper medical records. A substantial number of these workers are from the SADC region, causing major difficulties for continued health care in resident countries". The minister cited Lesotho as an example.

This was particularly problematic for patients on antiretroviral therapy. Minister Hogan called on the private sector to ensure that retrenched employees were properly transitioned to public sector programmes. In response to this call, SABCOHA CEO, Brad Mears, undertook to appeal to its members and companies in general to establish and implement proper procedures that provide for continuous care and uninterrupted treatment for all health conditions.

The primary purpose of the seminar was to agree on collecting and reporting HIV and AIDS treatment and care data for the non-state sector. South Africa was unable to report such data to the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) in 2008. The next UNGASS report is due in early 2010. This data is also expected to be reported to SANAC as part of the 2009 mid-term review. The seminar engaged leaders from disease management providers (DMPs), drug manufacturers, GP networks, medical schemes, donor funders, employers, development agencies, research institutions and NGO programmes. Companies present included Unilever, BMW, De Beers and Discovery Health.

Delegates agreed that data collection and reporting needs to be phased. The scope and approach, and indicators were determined for phase one. The private sector M&E steering committee was endorsed and a technical task team for treatment and care was established. Organisations represented on the Steering Committee include the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC), the South African Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS (SABCOHA), the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society, the AIDS Law Project, Actuarial Society of South Africa, HLSP and De Beers.

DMPs, Medical Schemes and large employer-funded programmmes will be requested to provide aggregated data by industrial sector and province.

Institutional data will be treated confidentiality. The technical committee will develop a protocol setting out how confidentiality will be secured and managed. The technical committee was mandated to develop a long-term strategy that included data specification, data collection, data analysis and reporting. This would necessitate a more comprehensive set of indicators for subsequent phases.

The steering committee was tasked to develop an operational M&E plan for the private sector that included a proposed budget and funding strategy. Delegates agreed that government should be approached for funding as a starting point given that 7% of the NSP budget is earmarked for M&E.

The operational M&E plan will have to identify similar processes for prevention and support data, and include requirements for effective implementation. Integration with other sectors through SANAC is imperative.

Mark Heywood, deputy chairperson of SANAC, said: "I hope that today, 12 March 2009, becomes known as a turning point in how we collect and act on information. We need to have a common purpose and a national vision."

For further information contact:

Brad Mears on tel: +27 11 880 4821 or mobile: +27 83 209 0858