Pharmacists in South Africa have officially been given the green light to prescribe and manage HIV medication, following a major court victory that dismissed an appeal from a group of private doctors.
The Supreme Court of Appeal SCA handed down its judgment electronically on 9 October 2025, ruling that the South African Pharmacy Council SAPC acted lawfully when it approved the Pharmacist-Initiated Management of Antiretroviral Therapy PIMART programme.
The case was brought forward by the Independent Practitioners Association Foundation IPA, a non-profit body representing private doctors, which argued that the SAPC had overstepped its authority by expanding pharmacists' roles to include initiating HIV treatment, as per Smile FM . The group claimed the move was irrational and procedurally unfair.