Government can't fill whole gap left by USAID funding exit: Aaron Motsoaledi

Health minister Aaron Motsoaledi says the government cannot fill the funding gap left by US President Donald Trump's decision to terminate USAID-funded programmes.

The move by the Trump administration has halted the supply of life-saving drugs for HIV, malaria and TB, and medical supplies for newborn babies, affecting organisations supported by USAID.

The President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar)-funded HIV/Aids organisations and other health projects funded by the US government were terminated.

Motsoaledi said of 271,606 people employed in HIV/Aids-related work, 254,452 are government-funded, while only 15,000 relied on US-funded programmes. Their primary focus is on patients receiving antiretroviral (ARV) treatment, as the department cannot cover all aspects of the US funding.

“I don't think we can do everything at the same time,” he said in an interview with SABC.

“Doing everything USAID was doing may not be possible. I am saying this because some of the money was for research investigations and related activities. Our immediate aim is that nobody must run out of ARVs when they need and deserve them.

“It's not about filling the whole gap; it's about prioritising and seeing what is more urgent and what we can afford because we are not going to hide and claim we can afford everything that Pepfar gave. Even our funders, many of whom are international, have told us that even if they come in and help, they may not be able to give us everything Pepfar was providing.”

South Africa has received about $8bn (R146.52bn) from the US government since the programme was launched in 2003. For the current US financial year (October 1 2024 to September 30 2025), more than R7.4bn was allocated.

Motsoaledi previously assured patients receiving treatment through US-funded programmes they would still receive treatment from the government.

He said he is engaging the National Treasury to discuss the financial implications and present the department's urgent needs.

“We have told our provincial departments that we meet them almost once a week since this announcement to see what is more urgent, whether they can bring all the patients to the public health facilities where clinics have been closed and whether they can second [transfer] extra staff from the department of health.”

TimesLIVE