
In Etwatwa and Daveyton, some patients have been going for three weeks without taking any treatment.
This is jeopardising the lives of patients and Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) is so fed up with the situation that it intends taking the health department to court.
TAC Gauteng provincial secretary Andrew Masani said the virus is cruel, in that once people starts taking treatment, it becomes unsafe to skip it.
“It becomes like a poison in your body if you skip a day and then take it the next day,” he said.
Masani, who called the shortage a “national crisis”, said they have been talking to Gauteng MEC for Health Hope Papo, with a view to solving the crisis, but to no avail.
He said the shortage is caused by suppliers who are owed payment.
“We are now building a case against the health department under Section 27,” said Masani.
The City times spoke to Etwatwa patients, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of being victimised.
“We recently phoned the office of the President to let him know of the shortage,” said one patient, who said she went for three weeks without treatment.
She said she was scared, because “shortage” means death to her.
Another patient, who is breastfeeding, said she was left in the dark on how to go about breastfeeding her child.
“I did not know whether or not it was safe to breastfeed my baby and I ended up having to buy a milk formula, which I’m not going to afford going forward,” she said.
She added that once the baby got used to the milk formula it would be difficult to breastfeed her.
HIV-positive mothers are encouraged to breastfeed, to maximise their babies’ health prospects.
Research has shown that the use of antiretroviral treatment can significantly reduce the risk of transmitting HIV to babies through breastfeeding.
Health department spokesman Simon Zwane said the department is aware of the shortage, which he attributed to a “lack of storage space” at the clinics.
“We are aware that there are challenges and we are attending to them,” he added.
Asked about the long term plans to curb the supply problem, Zwane said the department is improving its stock-holding capacity, to hold enough stock.
“We are busy at the Germiston Hospital, from where we will be distributing,” he added.
An unreliable supply of essential medicine has been a regular occurrence in Gauteng, this year, despite the department’s assurances, in March, that everything was in order.