South Africa: U.S. Funding Cuts Threaten South Africa's HIV Response As Global Leaders Warn of Widening Health System Disruptions
[Health-e] Decades of progress in the fight against HIV are at risk as funding cuts trigger global disruptions to health systems, leaving vulnerable communities with fewer services and placing the goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 increasingly out of reach.
U.S. funding cuts are threatening South Africa's HIV response, with global leaders warning of widening health system disruptions that could derail the goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. Professor Linda-Gail Bekker, former president of the International AIDS Society, highlighted that the withdrawal of U.S. funding would particularly impact HIV prevention and research.
In South Africa, over 8,000 community health workers have been retrenched since funding cuts began in 2025, despite the country running the world's largest HIV treatment programme. These workers play a vital role in services such as tuberculosis screening, sexual and reproductive healthcare, maternal health services, and disease surveillance, all of which are weakened when HIV counsellors, nurses, and outreach workers disappear.
Geoff Setswe, CEO of Aurum Institute, a leading African non-profit health organisation, noted that Aurum alone has had to retrench more than 700 staff as funding has been withdrawn.
Brief written by urgent.news from AllAfrica Health's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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