Thousands of healthcare programs taking place in South Africa face imminent shutdown after the decision by the United States government to permanently stop funding them.
The administration of US President Donald Trump has now notified healthcare organizations receiving funding from the US that such support would now be cut permanently.
Some of these organizations said they had received letters from the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
“Secretary Rubio and PTDO Deputy Administrator [Peter] Marocco have determined your award is not aligned with Agency priorities and made a determination that continuing this program is not in the national interest,” according to one of the letters.
Sibongile Tshabalala, chairperson of the Treatment Action Campaign, which campaigns for access to AIDS treatment, confirmed receipt of the termination letter to local news service Bhekisisa.
“It is so painful that these terminations mean death to poor people of the world. Key and vulnerable populations are the most affected,” Tshabalala said. “These terminations happen at a time when the whole world is bewildered by these outrageous decisions by the Trump administration.”
South Africa has the world’s largest population of people living with HIV and AIDS. USAID funds 44 health projects in South Africa.
HIV/AIDS patients in fear
There are concerns among South Africans that the latest move will effectively sentence many patients to death.
Nozuko Majola, who lives in a village in South Africa’s east, is struggling to contend with the funding cuts. She is living with HIV/AIDS and not sure how she is going to cope especially with getting her drugs delivered to her in the village.
“Transport is a big issue in this area, and we don’t get regular visits from the mobile clinic. But if you’re going to rely on a mobile clinic, you often miss it because the schedule is unreliable,” Majola told DW.
South Africa has one of the highest HIV/AIDS infection rates and with clinics funded by the US closing as part of the latest aid cut, there are concerns of a potential surge in infections.
Nozuko Ngcaweni, also a beneficiary of US aid gets her HIV/AIDS drugs for treatment from the healthcare programs supported by USAID.
“We are being killed in this manner [and] are going to die” she told DW. “You know, the day I heard that funding had stopped, I felt like I was dying.”
Fighting stigma
The US funding isn’t just for drug provision — it also supports campaigns to combat stigma surrounding the disease.
Some activists leading HIV prevention campaigns in major South African cities told DW that people will skip treatment if they are forced to visit state clinics on their own.
“So, my plea is that you reevaluate the humanity in your exact executive orders. Look at what each of those executive orders are dehumanizing,” Zsa Zsa Fisher, an activist, told DW in a message to Trump.
But the US president’s decision to cut aid isn’t happening in isolation. His administration has also taken aim at South Africa over a separate issue — land reform.
Trump has accused South Africa of seizing land owned by white landowners following its land expropriation bill. Trump has expressed displeasure and followed up with the announcement of the suspension of aid to the country.
Tshabalala said the consequences of Trump’s actions will be devastating.
“While the Trump administration is fighting for a land bill that has nothing to do with them and making noise about human rights violations, they are inadvertently committing genocide that will be remembered for years to come,” she said.
“It is time for the world to speak up and call the Trump administration out for these unfair decisions.”
South Africa must respond swiftly
South Africa has also become a hub for HIV vaccine research but with the new move by the US, labs have been ordered to close, and trials for vaccines that could save lives have been affected.
Yvette Raphael, co-founder and co-director of Advocacy for Prevention of HIV and AIDS (APHA), an NGO dedicated to ending the HIV global epidemic, told the Bhekisisa news service that the South African government must react swiftly.
“We are deeply concerned about the bad decision to end USAID,” Raphael said.
“The Trump administration has declared war on the right to health globally. The South African government must take this as an opportunity to expedite universal access to healthcare and meet its obligations to our people.”
The South African government is yet to show new plans on how to fill in the gaps to be created by the US funding cuts.
Linda-Gail Bekker, CEO of the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation, which works to find innovative solutions in the prevention and treatment of HIV and other infections, said the government must act fast.
“Saving dollars and spending lives — no words! We now really need to hear the plans from our country health departments [on] how the chaos will be [addressed] urgently,” Bekker said.
Edited by: Keith Walker
