Monitoring patients on ART within the CCMDD programme and those attending an urban healthcare facility in KwaZulu-Natal.

BACKGROUND

South Africa has high number of patients on antiretroviral treatment, necessitating innovative approaches to decongest healthcare facilities. The Central Chronic Medicines Dispensing and Distribution (CCMDD) programme is a national initiative that identifies stable chronic patients for collection at pick-up points away from the health facility. This study aimed to compare patient satisfaction and virological suppression among those who collected medication through the CCMDD programme and routine care.

METHODS

This descriptive retrospective analytical study was conducted at a community health centre in Pietermaritzburg from 01 January 2018 to 31 December 2018 and included a questionnaire and access to their medical records on the national medicines database. The 117 patients in the routine care and CCMDD programme groups were assessed at baseline and evaluated at 6 months and 12 months, which were the time points for viral load (VL) testing.

RESULTS

Of the 234 participants, 34 out of 117 (31.6%) remained in routine care at the 6-month review, and all but 7 patients had transferred to the CCMDD after 12 months. At the end of the study, 7 patients had VLs above 50 copies/mL and continued in routine care, while 97% (n = 27/234) remained virologically suppressed. None of the CCMDD programme patients moved out of the programme.

CONCLUSION

Satisfaction with the CCMDD programme is indicated by the patients' continued VL suppression, highlighting its potential to decongest healthcare facilities and reduce the strain associated with medication collection.Contribution: The findings in this study validate patients being registered onto the CCMDD programme.