Motsoaledi allays fears over US freeze on HIV/Aids funding

January 29, 2025 161

Health Minister, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, has rejected claims that the United States funds a large portion of South Africa’s HIV and Aids programme.

The Minister has moved to allay fears after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order enacting a 90-day pause on foreign assistance as Trump settles in office.

The three months of review affects the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which has been critical to South Africa’s fight against HIV/AIDS.

With a budget of $22.6 billion, USAID’s global work also includes disaster relief, aid for refugees and anti-poverty programmes.

However, the freezing of the aid exempts humanitarian assistance, including food and life-saving medicine and military assistance to Israel and Egypt.

Minister Motsoaledi has clarified that the US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) only contributes 17% of the R44.4 billion that the country spends on its HIV campaign.

While USAID has been an integral stakeholder in South Africa, Minister Motsoaledi says they will engage the Treasury to discuss a way forward.

“The world is baffled by this announcement. For more than 20 years, we have been fighting HIV/Aids, TB, and malaria as a global community, relying heavily on international funding. In South Africa, we run the world’s largest HIV counselling and testing campaign, with 5.5 million people on antiretroviral treatment. No other country comes close,” the Minister explained.

According to the Minister, South Africa buys ARVs from its own budget, with 10% coming from the Global Fund.

“So, our biggest problem will be the salaries and the operational costs (of clinics and NGOs funded by USAID),” he adds.

He says only programmes in 27 of the country’s districts funded by PEPFAR will be affected.

“These are the most affected districts, including five in the Eastern Cape, two in the Free State, four in Gauteng, and seven in KwaZulu-Natal, the province with the highest HIV prevalence. Others include two districts in Limpopo, three in Mpumalanga, three in North West, and the Cape Metro in the Western Cape.”

He says they are still assessing the full impact of this situation and compiling data to determine the extent of the challenge.

The Health Minister says it’s important to note that the government has not been informed about the decision on PEPFAR funding towards global healthcare.

He’s also urged South Africans living with HIV not to stop taking their ARVs as they seek to resolve the matter.

The USAID freeze is a chance for South Africa to pursue self-sufficiency.🤞

If we found R500 billion for COVID-19 and doubled post-education funding to R170 billion, we can surely replace R6.2 billion from USAID.🇿🇦

We might thank Donald Trump for this later. pic.twitter.com/24u9rpKzGZ

— TK_Nala (@NalaThokozane) January 29, 2025

President Trump is good for his country,he is doing the best for his country

Getting angry at him because of suspending USAID instead of holding your leaders accountable for failing to prioritize and develop sustainable health systems,that’s on you and your leaders. https://t.co/MniPGv3gFS

— Jok (@Junnubi) January 28, 2025

For the record, Trump’s decision to halt all foreign aid, no matter how haphazardly enforced, is good for you as an African.

The fact that so many African healthcare programs are dependent on USAID funding in the first place, is NOT down to American benevolence. It is in fact, a…

— David Hundeyin (@DavidHundeyin) January 28, 2025

African leaders have been proudly parading their relationships with China and Vladimir Putin, telling the US where to get off, while they are recipients of USAID and their public health programs and ARV supply relying on US funds. Man I will never understand this stupidity 😂

— Sello Elia 🇿🇦 (@SEMolekwa) January 28, 2025

I wouldn’t be surprised if, in the next few months, we see a spike in new HIV infections. That’s thanks to Trumps order that USAid immediately stops funding. Lots of organisations that do free HIV testing, prevention and treatment stopped working today.

— Mbekezeli (@MbekezeliMB) January 27, 2025

Trump is putting America first by tracing all American taxpayers money and how it’s being used

You cannot cry about USAID being stopped
We have enough money and resources to cover everything if the looting is stopped

Africa cannot cry about the withdrawal of funding when we… pic.twitter.com/UbDGEwbFw7

— Paul Muchemwa🇿🇼🇿🇼 (@paulmuchemwa2) January 29, 2025