Trump permanently halts healthcare aid to South Africa, sparking HIV crisis

Key topics:.US ends funding for thousands of African health programs, causing chaos.South Africa faces 500,000 deaths if funding gaps aren't filled.HIV vaccine trial and key healthcare jobs terminated due to cuts..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here..Support South Africa's bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here..If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..By Janice Kew___STEADY_PAYWALL___.The US has permanently stopped funding thousands of health-care programs in Africa, with notifications to affected organizations arriving without warning and causing a cascade of chaos..Letters from The United States Agency for International Development arrived overnight local time for many and were also sent to groups funded by the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR.."The termination orders are coming through in droves," Desmond Tutu Health Foundation Chief Executive Officer Linda-Gail Bekker said in an interview. .PEPFAR was initiated in 2003 by then-President George W. Bush. It has saved an estimated 25 million lives and allowed 5.5 million children to be born free of the HIV virus that causes AIDS. .At least nine African countries have AIDS programs. While many of these have transitioned to the respective countries assuming more responsibility for their national responses, each is still sorely affected by the funding cuts.."It is not hyperbole to say that I predict a huge disaster, a walk back on investment, unless other resources can be found — and found urgently," Bekker said in a briefing Thursday. .South Africa stands to lose 25 years worth of investment if government fails to fill the gaps left by USAID with more than 500,000 deaths expected to occur because of the terminations, she said. Crucial support staff will also be lost, putting further pressure on the country's already stressed public health service. .Read more: Frans Cronjé: Attack on Israel/US by Ramaphosa in yesterday's FP will end very badly for SA.A US-funded HIV vaccine trial, where South African Medical Research Council had teamed up with scientists from eight countries on the continent, has also stopped because of the USAID moves.."I never thought we'd be in a situation like this," Mitchell Warren, Executive Director of US advocacy group AVAC said in a briefing Thursday. "We knew things were going to be different under the second term of this new president, but I don't think any of us recognized the speed and scale and inequity and inhumanity with which this would would happen.".The US earlier this month issued a waiver to allow some PEPFAR activities to resume, focusing on "life-saving" tasks such as HIV care, testing, counseling, and medicine procurement. While the waiver was set for 90 days, the confusion from how the stop-work orders were implemented resulted in many clinics remaining closed. The orders received Thursday have halted what remained. One USAID-partner in South Africa said tomorrow they will terminate the jobs of 2,800 workers including counselors, data capturers and healthcare workers.."The Trump administration, according to our organization, has declared war on the right to health globally," said Yvette Raphael who heads a South African advocacy group for the prevention of HIV and AIDS. .Still, local government needs to step up, she said. "In South Africa, healthcare is a human right and our government has an obligation to ensure that our health right is reached.".Read also:.US should react to Ramaphosa's poke with financial sanctions against him, ANC bigwigs – Joel PollakFilatova to Pretoria: Drop slogans, hold your tongue, focus on SA economy🔒 How US Left sees SA – scary New Yorker assessment.© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.

Trump permanently halts healthcare aid to South Africa, sparking HIV crisis

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