THE US government’s sudden decision to axe funding for HIV programmes is a “wake-up call” for South Africa, the country’s health minister has told the BBC.
Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, responding to US termination notices issued late on Wednesday, said the cuts could lead to deaths, but he had instructed state-funded clinics to ensure no patient went without life-saving drugs.
There is chaos as many affected organisations scramble to find alternative help for some 900,000 HIV patients by the end of the day.
“Instead of a careful handover, we’re being pushed off a cliff,” said Kate Rees from the Anova Health Institute, one of the biggest recipients of special US funding to counter the spread of HIV.
These cuts to the US’s HIV programme, known as the US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar), are part of wider cost-cutting drive to reduce American government spending.
Pepfar was launched in 2003 by then US President George W Bush and its funding is distributed via the US government’s main overseas aid agency USAID.
It has been regarded as a ground-breaking scheme that has enabled some of the world’s poorest people to access anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) and has saved more than 25 million lives worldwide.
A 90-day freeze on US foreign aid payments instituted by President Donald Trump on his first day in office last month has already upended the global aid system.
In reaction to the raft of cuts, the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) issued a stark warning on Friday.
“I have to say that the world is playing with fire,” Dr Jean Kaseya told the BBC.
“I want to send a clear message to our partners from the US, the UK and all other Western countries that please don’t come to blame Africa when there will be a pandemic coming from Africa because you decided to stop funding critical programme.”
