PRESS ROOM

State of Health KwaZulu-Natal 2023 — Press Pack

14 November 2023

On 14 November 2023, Ritshidze will launch a detailed report into the state of the public healthcare system in KwaZulu-Natal. Ritshidze data from three districts in the report will be presented to the department of health and other duty bearers at three district-level community meetings during the week. The King Cetshwayo meeting will be live streamed here: vimeo, facebook and YouTube, the eThekwini meeting will be live streamed here: vimeo, facebook and YouTube, and the uMgungundlovu meeting will be lived streamed here: vimeo, facebook and YouTube.

The report is based on the results of data collected through Ritshidze’s community-led monitoring of 126 health facilities in the province, as well as data collected through interviews with 1,302 members of key populations in the community.

This is the third edition of the KwaZulu-Natal State of Health report; the first was published in November 2021, and the second in November 2022. Data in this report were collected between July and August 2023. The third edition of the report reveals a number of improvements like shorter waiting times, more people getting 3 month supply of ARVs, and friendlier staff — however staff remain hostile to to LGBTQIA+ communities, people who use drugs, and sex workers who are at times denied access to services, and often struggle to access the specific services needed.

Ritshidze is a programme of the PLHIV Sector made up of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), National Association of People Living with HIV (NAPWA), Positive Action Campaign, Positive Women’s Network, the South African Network of Religious Leaders Living with HIV (SANERELA+).

You can follow @RitshidzeSA on twitter, facebook and instagram for regular updates or go to www.ritshidze.org.za for more information.

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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.