An estimated 8,2 million South African live with HIV.  Since 1984, when the HIV virus was identified, more than 35 million people lost their lives to it.  The programme to make medication available to all HIV positive persons attending government clinics, has made it possible for people living with HIV to lead a normal live.

The Post Office offers a convenient collection point to thousands of patients attending government clinics.  Anyone who collects chronic medication from a government clinic, but who lives closer to a post office than the clinic, can request the clinic to collect the medication from the Post Office.

The service is aimed at patients who live or work closer to a post office than a Government clinic.  The main benefit of the service is longer service hours. Post Offices are open until 17:00 and Saturday mornings.

The collection service is available at 342 post offices in all provinces except the Western Cape. These post offices were selected because they comply with the requirements of the Department of Health. Medication that requires specialised storage, such as cold storage, cannot be collected from a Post Office.

If you would like to collect your medication from a convenient post office, you should ask your clinic to arrange it.  The Department of Health sends the patient an SMS when the medication is ready for collection and patients have 14 days to collect it before the medication is returned to the Department of Health.

Source: Government of South Africa