Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has sought to allay fears that the withdrawal of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) will collapse the health system and HIV/AIDS programs in the country.
Motsoaledi, who was briefing the media in Pretoria, said PEPFAR only funded a few districts in the country.
“It is inconceivable that out of R46.8 billion spent by the country on the HIV/AIDS programme, the withdrawal of R7.9 billion by President Trump will immediately lead to a collapse of the entire program. We believe it is inconceivable. When we started this program, we needed R5.3 billion, today we’re spending a whooping R46.8 billion, of which R7.9 billion is from PEPFAR,” said Motsoaledi.
The minister highlighted that there are 7.9 million people in the country, who are estimated by UNAIDS to be HIV positive.
“At the moment, we have 5.9 million people who are on antiretroviral therapy. Our programs have reduced death from HIV/AIDS and concomitantly reduced the death from TB. Under no circumstances will we allow this work performed over a period of a decade and half to collapse,” explained the minister.
Despite the withdrawal, Motsoaledi said the department continues to supply antiretroviral medications, without any interruptions
Motsoaledi said there are 52 districts in the country, and only 12 specialised clinics that were independent from government and managed by NGO’s which were providing services mainly for key populations and funded by PEPFAR.
According to the minister, these clinics were catering for about 63 322 key populations, whose patient files have since been transferred to public health facilities.
Seven of the clinics were in KwaZulu-Natal, five Eastern Cape, four in Gauteng, three in North West, three in Mpumalanga, two in Free State, two in Limpopo, and one in the Western Cape, which is the Cape Metro which constitutes 60% of the province’s population.
Meanwhile, Motsoaledi said the government has engaged other donors, like the Clinton Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the French Development Agency, amongst others.
