PRESS ROOM

State of Health Free State — 2024

27 August 2024

On 27 August 2024, Ritshidze will launch a detailed report into the state of the public healthcare system in the Free State. While some improvement has been made, a litany of challenges still persists including: only 17% of people getting a 3 month supply of ARVs, long waiting times, a culture of unfriendliness and punishment, poor treatment literacy education, lack of access to lubricant, and poor clinic cleanliness. The full press release is here.

The report will be presented to the Free State health department, the Thabo Mofutsanyana health department, the Lejweleputswa health department & other duty bearers at two community meetings in Bethlehem and Thabong. The Thabo Mofutsanyana meeting will be live streamed here: vimeo, facebook and YouTube, and the Lejweleputswa meeting will be live streamed here: vimeo, facebook and YouTube. We will also hear the real experiences of people living with HIV, the LGBTQIA+ community, sex workers, people who use drugs, & other public healthcare users accessing healthcare in the province.

This is the fourth edition of the annual State of Health report for the Free State. Data in this report were collected between April and May 2024 at 51 facilities in the province (27 in Thabo Mofutsanyana and 24 in Lejweleputswa). Surveys were carried out with 2,659 public healthcare users at the facility and 1,449 members of key populations in the community.

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About RITSHIDZE

“Ritshidze” — meaning “Saving Our Lives” in TshiVenda — has been developed by people living with HIV and activists to hold the South African government and aid agencies accountable to improve overall HIV and TB service delivery.

Partner organisations include the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), the National Association of People Living with HIV (NAPWA), Positive Action Campaign, Positive Women’s Network (PWN) and the South African Network of Religious Leaders Living with and affected by HIV/AIDS (SANERELA+)—in alliance with Health Global Access Project (Health GAP), the Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR), and Georgetown University’s O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law.

CLICK HERE to read more and see where we work.