This is an archive of the Treatment Action Campaign's public documents from December 1998 until October 2008. I created this website because the TAC's website appears unmaintained and people were concerned that it
was becoming increasingly hard to find important documents.

The menu items have been slightly edited and a new stylesheet applied to the site. But none of the documents have been edited, not even for minor errors. The text appears on this site as obtained from the Internet Archive.

The period covered by the archive encompassed the campaign for HIV medicines, the civil disobedience campaigns, the Competition Commission complaints, the 2008 xenophobic violence and the PMTCT, Khayelitsha health workers and Matthias Rath court cases.

Obtaining generic ARVs

The TAC Treatment Project will, to the extent that capacity allows, assist individuals to procure generic antiretrovirals. Some of these medicines are not registered with the Medicines Control Council, and each patient requires special authorisation under section 21 of the Medicines Act to import and hold these medcines.

In order to obtain authorisation, a set of forms must be filled out by the patient's doctor and submitted to the MCC. Authorisation typically takes about two weeks. The TAC TP does not guarantee that it will be able to help every person who requests help. Priority will be given to uninsured patients, patients whose medical aid schemes do not cover ARVs and unemployed or poor patients who cannot afford branded drugs.

The TAC TP will not supply generic ARVs to anyone without the required authorisation. Drugs are dispensed by a registered pharmacist at a licensed pharmacy. Please note: The TAC TP cannot guarantee an ability to supply medicines indefinately.

How can I obtain these medicines?

For detailed instructions and all the required forms, download this pdf document.

Always call to ensure your order can be processed before placing it.

Which drugs can the TAC TP supply, and how much do they cost?

All drugs are sold at cost price. The TAC TP is a non-profit public benefit organisation.

The TAC TP can currently obtain the following drugs:

Cipla Triomune 40 (stavudine 40mg + lamivudine 150mg + nevirapine 200mg) @ R327.00 per month

Cipla Triomune 30 (stavudine 30mg + lamivudine 150mg + nevirapine 200mg) @ R279.12 per month

Cipla Duovir (lamivudine 150mg + zidovudine 300mg) @ R290.52 per month

Cipla Nevimune (nevirapine 200mg) @ R189.52 per month

A dispensing fee of R55.00 is charged on all orders and postage to the patient's doctor of R34.63 if the patient cannot collect at our partner pharmacy.