US HIV funding cuts: Chaos and temporary solutions in South Africa and Lesotho

The Politic: The fragility of aid: The fallout of HIV funding cuts in South Africa

With South Africa’s health minister denying reports that their HIV program has been hurt and failing to outline a plan to replace the 8,000 healthcare workers supported by the US, many are worried about the country falling back into patterns of denialism. The country needs to build the organizational structure that PEPFAR once provided, despite its substantial economic and political cost. While programs get reimagined, millions will remain without access to services that once sustained their life, caught in the crossroads of broken promises and government inaction.

The Associated Press: The tiny African nation of Lesotho had victories in its HIV fight. Then, the US aid cuts came

Lesotho funded only 12% of its own health budget. The US and other foreign donors provided the rest. USAID alone accounted for 34% of the budget; the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 26%. Health committee chair Makhalanyane said this month that it remains unclear how much US aid is being reinstated, even if temporarily. There had been only verbal promises, nothing in writing, he noted, and hundreds of health workers who had been promised they’d be absorbed by the national health system remain unemployed.