South Africa and international partners allocate $33 million to HIV research after US funding cuts

The South African government, together with the Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust, has pledged 600 million rand (US$33 million) to an initiative that aims to keep medical research projects running — including a major HIV vaccine clinical trial — following significant funding cuts by the United States.

According to Bloomberg, the contribution includes a commitment of 400 million rand (US$22.2 million) from the South African government over three years, supplemented by 100 million rand (US$5.5 million) from each of the two foundations. The funding will be made available to research programs that lost financial support, including those targeting diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis, the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) stated in a press release on August 4.

“We’re going to apply and hope to secure some of the funding,” said Glenda Gray, who leads an HIV vaccine trial conducted by the SAMRC. The project had received a multi-year grant of US$45.6 million from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in 2023 to be carried out across eight African countries. USAID was shut down this year, and a large portion of its funding was cancelled.

South Africa, where 13% of the 62 million population is living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is a leading hub for research into sexually transmitted infections as well as other diseases common in developing countries, such as tuberculosis.

The funding aims “to support research and academic institutions with active U.S. grants that were directly affected by the withdrawal of American funding,” the SAMRC said.