Chronic Medicine Pick-Up Points Aim To Help 3 Million South Africans In 2020

The Cipla Foundation, through its Sha’p Left initiative, provides high-quality, customised chronic medicine pick-up point facilities (PUPs) around the country, and has recently landed its 20^th PUP.

The Central Chronic Medication Dispensing and Distribution (CCMDD) programme is a National Department of Health initiative working to decongest crowded state healthcare facilities and improve access to chronic medication. In total, more than 2.4 million South Africans have registered on the CCMDD programme since it was launched in 2014. The goal is to have 3 million South Africans registered by the end of 2020.

CCMDD-PUPs are strategically located and help reduce the patients’ travel time (and associated travel costs) to collect chronic medication, while also saving time that would have been spent waiting in long queues.

Paul Miller, CEO of Cipla Medpro, said: “Many of these CCMDD patients would previously have spent one full day a month visiting national health facilities, and incur transport costs in addition to time (and income) lost at work. The financial impact of this is huge – CCMDD patients have reported up to 43 percent savings.”

President Cyril Ramaphosa issued a challenge in 2018 to initiate an additional two million people on antiretroviral treatment (ART) by December 2020. The ease of collecting chronic medication from a convenient pick-up point significantly reduces patient waiting times and creates a better experience that improves adherence to medication, retention-in-care, and ultimately, better disease control. National Health Facilities (Facilities) also benefit as CCMDD patients no longer need to attend as frequently, providing some relief to often over-burdened facilities. 

To date, the CCMDD programme reported a 22 percent increase in treatment adherence. To ensure continued improved adherence to respective treatments, the programme is also developing novel mechanisms to remind patients to collect their medicines. Adherence to medication is critical for improved patient outcomes as the World Health Organisation stated that “improving medication adherence would have a greater impact on the health of the population than any new treatments or inventions that we have. Because we have good treatment, but we know that our patients aren’t taking their medicine.”

Miller notes that while ART is a core focus area, CCMDD facilities also provide patients with access to treatment for other chronic conditions. “Currently, 65 percent of patients use the CCMDD pick-up points exclusively for collecting ARV’s, while 24 percent use the facilities for the treatment of NCD’s, and 12% for a combination of both.”

Reflecting on the programme’s rapid recent expansion – especially in 2020 – Miller credits the strong partnership between the National Department of Health and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

USAID Southern Africa Mission director, John Groarke, said: “The United States is committed to supporting, through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), sustainable public-private partnerships like the one the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has with the Cipla Foundation. We’re proud to support a program designed to promote entrepreneurial approaches to development and improving access to life-saving medicines.”

“The Cipla Foundation will continue to work closely with these key stakeholders to optimise enrolment into the CCMDD programme, in order to ensure convenient access to medication for all South Africans and to help achieve treatment goals in 2020,” said Miller.

About the Cipla Foundation South Africa:

The Cipla Foundation, Cipla SA’ s social enterprise division, is a recognised non-profit organisation and operates as the umbrella for various fundraising projects and initiatives aligned to Cipla’s core ethos, ‘advancing healthcare for all South Africans’. Key projects aligned with the Foundation include: Sha’p Left, a nurse-driven primary healthcare service treating people closer to home, and a chronic medicine pick-up point; Ajuga, fire-resistant crèche structures deployed in communities; Owethu, South Africa’s first fully-serviced modular medical and dental clinic; and the Cipla Miles for Smiles initiative, which creates awareness for the plight of children born with cleft lips and palates, as well as raises funds to perform corrective surgery on them. Visit http://ciplafoundationsa.co.za/ for more information.