THE lungs of those taking anti-AIDS drugs in this country have been reduced so that there will be no interruption in the supply of these drugs. This follows reports that the American government has withdrawn temporary funding to contribute to the fight against this virus in the country.
The spokesperson of the Ministry of Health, in this country, Mr. Foster Mohale, said that they have not received anything tangible from the American government for withdrawing funding under PEPFAR.
“We have seen the media reports that the United States has withdrawn funding, but we have not received anything from the government there. We are not surprised by this because we have been working on plans for some time to ensure that there is no impact if the funding is withdrawn,” he said.
The American government announced that it will withdraw subsidies to different countries, including this country in January 2025.
“There is no need to panic because there is a plan that will ensure that the distribution of drugs is not interrupted. We have no doubt that the American funding was helping in the fight against HIV in this country. But we could not rely too much on it because we buy our own ARV’s.”
He said that 90% of ARV’s are bought by the government and 10% of them are support from the Global Fund.
“We must remind the public that PEPFAR was helping the department in 27 regions, out of 52 in this country in 8 provinces. Only the Northern Cape was not under this program.”
He pointed out that government agencies continue to help those who receive the drugs that were funded by PEPFAR.
He said there is a meeting scheduled for tomorrow that started yesterday, in New York, where the Minister of the department, Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi, will be a part of it. The meeting is about funding programs to fight this virus and is organized by the international community.
American President Donald Trump announced sanctions on countries that were aided by his country, saying that it is time for money to work for his people. The sanctions were temporarily suspended as there were ongoing discussions and it is now said to have returned.