MSD/Tshepang Trust visit from SA
MSD South Africa in partnership with the Tshepang Trust recently visited Botswana to learn about the country’s
HIV/AIDS treatment programmes and how they compare with the Tshepang Trust treatment approach. The Tshepang Trust
is an HIV and AIDS Comprehensive Programme of the South African Medical Association (SAMA). The aim of the Trust
is to establish public - private partnerships that would comprise of public health facilities working with general
practitioners to alleviate the burden of treatment at the public ARV sites and secondly to address the capacity
problems faced by the public sector medical facilities.
Dr Kgosi Letlape, Executive Director of Tshepang Trust and Chairperson of SAMA led the delegation. While in Botswana
the team met with ACHAP staff who briefed them on ACHAP areas of support to the national response. They visited the
Princess Marina and Bamalete Lutheran Infectious Disease Care Clinics, were they were taken on a guided tour of the
treatment facilities. The Department of AIDS Care and Prevention briefed them on the Masa ARV programme – the government’s
HIV/AIDS treatment programme. The team also had an opportunity to meet with the Associated Fund Administrators where they
were informed about the outsourcing of ARVs in the private sector. They also met a private doctor seeing HIV/AIDS patients
outsourced from the public sector to the private sector who talked about the outsourcing model.
