South Africa fighting to save HIV treatment after US aid cut
South Africa is struggling under the weight of severe US aid cuts to its HIV program, threatening to unravel the significant progress that has been made, according to Africanews via Associated Press on August 25th.
There are understandable fears that the US withdrawal of approximately $427 million of funding will fuel concerns about a rise in HIV infections, given that the South African government has hinted at difficulties securing alternative funding to replace US aid.
The impact of US President Donald Trump decimating the foreign aid budget was immediate in South Africa, with free clinics having to close their doors, leaving patients without medication.
Patients have claimed they have been turned away from public hospitals, although authorities insist that should not be happening.
One woman, who chose to remain anonymous, depends on these clinics for treatment and testing. The woman, who is a sex worker, said “the funding plays a significant role in our lives. The clinic would come to my apartment, give me services there.”
It is not just treatment that aid cuts are depriving people of, it is dignity too.
An unsavoury consequence of aid cuts shutting down safe, accessible clinics for HIV treatment is a spike in the number of people buying HIV medication on the black market, where pills have nearly doubled in price.
Yvette Raphael is a co-founder of the local Advocacy for Prevention of HIV and AIDS group and is worried the country is at risk of regressing.
“We are scared that we are going to see high numbers of people living with HIV rising. We are scared that we are going to see people dying again.”
Across the country, 12 clinics have been forced to shut down, and up to 63,000 people depended on those clinics for daily HIV medication and treatment.
The simultaneous effect of Trump’s tariffs on South Africa alongside the severe aid cuts have exacerbated matters, with the tariffs having the potential to deepen the already existing unemployment crisis in South Africa, creating the scenario of an ill-equipped economy to plug the funding gaps for HIV treatment.
Broader concerns about the trajectory of public healthcare in Africa are apparent, with a cholera outbreak in Sudan straining health resources and malaria outbreaks in Uganda highlighting the potency of aid cuts, and the real risk of regression in fighting common infections.
Africanews via Associated Press, Maghrebi.org
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