HIV Treatment Retention: South Africa’s Plan for 1.1m Patients

Original Article by Mmatumelo Lebjane | TimesLIVE | 1 December 2025

SA faces a crisis in HIV treatment retention as 1.1 million patients disengage from care. The "Close the Gap" campaign aims to fix this.

SA faces a crisis in HIV treatment retention as 1.1 million patients disengage from care. The “Close the Gap” campaign aims to fix this.

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Dr Thembisile Xulu is the new health Director-General, inheriting a strained department, healthcare-worker shortages and NHI litigation.

Gauteng is losing 100 nurses a month and needs R5.7bn to fill a 16,000-post gap. This shortage now flagged as a key risk to the NHI rollout.

Regulation, not demand, blocks affordable cover: medical schemes should be allowed to offer low-cost benefit options (LCBOs) now.