The General Practitioners Care Cell (GPCC) is an innovative healthcare model conceptualized in 2015 under the National HIV Think Tank and piloted in Tshwane District, Gauteng Province, in 2018. It represents a collaborative effort between the National Department of Health (DoH), Gauteng Provincial DoH, Foundation for Professional Development (FPD), and PPO Serve, with funding from DoH and PEPFAR through CDC and USAID.
The primary objective of the GPCC is to expand access to HIV testing services (HTS) and antiretroviral treatment (ART) for uninsured people living with HIV (PLHIV) by leveraging the capacity of private general practitioners (GPs) to provide subsidized HIV clinical services outside of public sector health facilities.
The GPCC contracts, manages, and quality assures GPs within their private practices to provide HTS and to initiate and manage ART patients in Gauteng Province. This model aligns with the vision of the National Health Insurance (NHI) to utilize private sector resources in a controlled manner to deliver public health services.
From its inception in 2018 until 2022, the GPCC operated in various districts within Gauteng Province. Despite funding constraints in 2020 that led to the closure of the program in City of Tshwane and City of Ekurhuleni, the GPCC was re-launched in Johannesburg Metro Health District at the end of 2020 with new funding from Anova Health Institute and USAID. The program scaled up in 2021 under the campaign "Your Care Network," contracting 55 new GPs.
By the end of the program in Tshwane and Ekurhuleni Health Districts, the GPCC had:
- Contracted 51 GPs and 9 community pharmacies
- Tested 27,896 patients for HIV
- Initiated 2,848 patients on ART
In 2021, the GPCC was rebranded as "Your Care Network" and expanded to Johannesburg and Sedibeng Health Districts, achieving the following:
- Contracted 47 GPs in Johannesburg and 9 GPs in Sedibeng
- Provided 48,391 HIV tests
- Diagnosed 2,158 clients as HIV positive
- Started 2,336 clients on ART
Additionally, the GPCC secured funding from PSI to implement the "PrEP for Men in South Africa" project, which piloted at ten participating GPs and provided free PrEP to men for up to seven months follow-up. During the recruitment period, 552 men started PrEP at the pilot GPs.
The GPCC has demonstrated a viable contracting-out model for HIV service delivery that benefits both the government and the contracted private service providers. The current patient profile underscores the value of leveraging private sector service delivery models to reach and manage PLHIV populations, who face higher access barriers at public sector PHC clinics.
The GPCC aimed to scale up HIV testing and ART in Johannesburg and Sedibeng districts with funding from Anova / USAID, starting 2,746 patients on ART and achieving a 94% viral suppression rate at 12 months. A small pilot project also targeted men in the general population, starting 564 men on PrEP at ten pilot sites, demonstrating interest for PrEP among general population men in the South African private sector.
The GPCC is a National Health Insurance (NHI)-demonstration program that has been successful in shaping the South African Government’s NHI learning agenda. It has been recognized as a Finalist in Healthcare for the Vision 2030 Awards in 2019 and continues to operate as a structured network of GP practices and community pharmacies delivering standardized clinical services using the purchaser-provider split as envisioned under the NHI.