Advancing HIV Care Outcomes for Private Clients – From Data to Impact
- Karabo Makgato
On Monday, 22 September 2025, the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) convened a CPD-accredited webinar titled “Advancing HIV Care Outcomes for Private Clients: From Data to Impact.” The session brought together stakeholders from government, partners, private health providers, funders, and client forums to explore ways of closing HIV management gaps in the private healthcare sector.
The webinar sought to facilitate dialogue and collaborative engagement among stakeholders to advance HIV management within the private sector. Leveraging data-driven insights, established best practices, and client perspectives, the session endeavoured to identify innovative approaches to strengthen service delivery, improve the quality of care, and ensure that the voices of private sector clients are meaningfully represented in decision-making processes.
South Africa has made remarkable progress in HIV prevention, testing, and treatment. However, the private sector continues to face challenges such as weak linkage to care, disengagement from treatment, data integration gaps, and limited client involvement in decision-making. These blind spots hinder effective service delivery and make it difficult to design targeted, evidence-based interventions.
As Dr. Nkhensani Nkhwashu, SANAC Executive Manager, highlighted in her opening remarks, the webinar offered an opportunity to reflect on data, share best practices, and most importantly, “co-create practical solutions that put clients at the centre.” She emphasized the power of evidence-driven decision-making and collaborative partnerships to close treatment gaps and strengthen health systems
The first session featured expert insights on strategies to enhance HIV care outcomes. Dr Sibongile Ntshangase, Technical Officer for HIV treatment & care, Viral hepatitis and STIs from World Health Organisation (WHO) unpacked global progress towards the 95-95-95 targets and explored challenges in linkage to care, particularly in South Africa’s private sector. She stressed the importance of differentiated service delivery, re-engagement of clients lost to follow-up, and innovative virtual interventions that expand access to stigma-free, people-centred HIV services
Mr. Zwebuka Khumalo, Strategic Information Manager at SANAC formed part of the second session which featured a panel discussion moderated by SANAC Technical Lead for HIV & TB Treatment Literacy Ms Mandisa Dukashe. In his remarks, he underscored the importance of standardising service provision across the public and private sectors, creating platforms for in-depth discussion of data needs, and ensuring alignment of indicators, including their definitions and disaggregation. He further highlighted the necessity of reviewing and harmonising data collection tools to promote alignment and to establish seamless, bi-directional data flow processes.
Other panel members included, Ms. Zanele Cekiso from the Private Healthcare Clients Forum who highlighted the need for meaningful client participation in shaping HIV care pathways, ensuring that private sector clients are not passive recipients but active contributors to solutions. Mr. Thoneshan Naidoo, CEO of Health Funders Association CEO underscored the importance of co-creation, calling for partnerships that align funders, providers, and clients in designing the healthcare system clients deserve.
The webinar achieved its objectives of creating a shared understanding of private sector HIV service gaps, identifying strategies for stronger data integration, and setting priorities for cost-effective, evidence-based solutions. Most importantly, it secured commitment to approaches that place clients at the heart of decision-making.