About a month ago, after 18 years and 86,672 calls, the National HIV & TB Healthcare Worker Hotline went silent because it ran out of funding. Now a dedicated team at the Medicines Information Centre is rallying to turn it back on so that no nurse or doctor is alone when faced with a complex patient case.
Cape Town, South Africa (19 October 2026) – Since 2008, the National HIV & TB Healthcare Worker Hotline has provided free, expert advice to nurses, doctors and pharmacists across South Africa, answering more than 86,000 queries. In clinics and hospitals, it has served as a vital bridge between isolation and expert guidance, ensuring that no healthcare worker has to make a life-altering medical decision alone.
An initiative of the Medicines Information Centre, the Hotline has given healthcare workers anywhere in South Africa access to specialist advice. This means that people living with HIV or TB can receive good care, no matter who they are, where they live or which clinic or hospital they visit.
“We help with complex HIV and TB cases, diagnosis, medicine interactions, side effects, HIV prevention (PEP and PrEP) and children’s dosing, so that patients get safer, better care and lives are saved,” shares Anri Uys, an information pharmacist and member of the Medicines Information Centre.
Around two decades ago, Dr Laurel Giddy first started working with people living with HIV who were already very ill by the time they sought help. Grateful for the support the Hotline has provided over the years, Dr Giddy says that without it, healthcare workers would be left feeling helpless or unsure about which treatment to provide.
“Getting trapped in an environment where you’re not sure what you’re doing, where people die, and you feel unsupported is just demoralising.”
Today, however, the National HIV & TB Healthcare Worker Hotline has fallen silent.
“The last call I took on the National HIV & TB Healthcare Worker Hotline was from a doctor in KwaZulu-Natal. Her patient had drug-resistant TB, and she needed to know the right treatment. I’d answered that question many times before, so I could help her straight away,” Anri tells us.
Around the same time, she adds, a colleague helped a caller whose patient had been treated for cryptococcal meningitis.
“The wrong follow-up test had been done, so my colleague guided them to the right tests, and the patient was spared medicines they didn’t need. That’s lives saved and money saved, from one phone call.”
Holiday Hikes on the Horizon? Table Mountain’s Trails Get a Safety Check
Viral Plastic Bottle Dress Designer Kenan van Kooij Shares Magic Behind New Work!Sadly, a lack of funding has forced this national service to suspend its operations. Anri and her colleagues at the Medicines Information Centre are now rallying to switch it back on.
“We are raising funds to reopen it,” she shares.
By giving frontline healthcare providers immediate, free access to clinical experts and medicine specialists, the Hotline turns complex HIV and TB cases into clear, safe and personalised treatment plans. It is a vital lifeline, especially in under-resourced or rural clinics, where a quick phone call can prevent dangerous medicine interactions, refine dosages for pregnant patients and save a life.
Donations to the verified crowdfunding campaign launched by Anri will help cover specialist staff, as well as telephone and WhatsApp services.
“Every rand helps make sure that nurses, doctors and pharmacists can get trusted, evidence-based advice when their patients need it most.”
Sources: Anri Uys
Don’t ever miss the Good Things. Download the Good Things Guy App now on Apple or Google.
Do you have something to add to this story? Please share it in the comments or follow GoodThingsGuy on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date with good news as it happens, or share your good news with us by clicking here or click the link below to listen to the Good Things Guy Podcast with Brent Lindeque – South Africa’s very own Good Things Guy. He’s on a mission to change what the world pays attention to, and he truly believes there’s good news around us. In the Good Things Guy podcast, you’ll meet these everyday heroes and hear their incredible stories:
Or catch an episode of Good Things with Brent Lindeque or our Weekly Top 5 below. The videos here are always changing, updated with the latest episodes from these two shows. Both are part of Good Things TV, created to bring South Africans balance at a time when the news can feel overwhelmingly negative. Our goal is simple: to remind you that there are still so many good things happening in our country – and to leave you feeling a little more proudly South African.
by 
