Initial anticipations and experiences of antiretroviral therapy among managers at ART-assessment facilities in the Free State

Before the implementation of ART, and again seven months later, interviews were conducted with facility managers and nurses leading PHC programmes. Their perceptions of the impact of ART are discussed. A positive finding was that ART assessment site managers had been optimistic about ART from the outset, and by the end of the sevenmonth period even more so. Nurses leading other PHC programmes were initially concerned about overcrowding the facility due to ART, but this problem did not feature prominently during the follow-up survey. ART programme nurses’ perceptions of the problems at their facilities mostly related to staff and space. On the whole the data show that pessimism preceding the implementation of ART was in many respects allayed with implementation.