CAPE TOWN - South Africa’s AIDS funding is at risk following US president Donald Trump’s proposed budget to cut global AIDS funding.
Business Day reports that Trump's proposed budget puts this funding at risk, putting SA on edge.
The Department of Health is anxiously waiting to see if the US Congress approves Trump’s proposed cuts to global health programmes, as its decision could reduce donor support for HIV/AIDS in SA.
It is further said that the US is the world’s biggest contributor to the global fight against HIV/AIDS and in 2016 contributed $4.9bn through bilateral programmes and international efforts such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Trump’s proposed 2018 budget would shave almost $1bn off this figure, including a $222m cut to its contribution to the Global Fund.
The department’s deputy director-general for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and maternal and child health, Yogan Pillay said "We should all be concerned. South Africa has the world’s biggest HIV/AIDS burden, with more than 7-million people living with the disease. Unlike many other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa funds the lion’s share of its HIV/AIDS programmes itself,” said Pillay.