By Daanyaal Matthews
The withdrawal of the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, better known as PEPFAR, has caused great concern in the medical fraternity. Recent estimates indicate that the withdrawal of funds could lead to the deaths of hundreds of thousands in the next 10 years while hindering crucial research to combat the spread of HIV and AIDS.
The US Embassy and Consulate in South Africa has maintained that a limited waiver has been implemented that would cover life-saving HIV care and treatment services, inclusive of HIV testing but reiterates that not all PEPFAR activities will return.
Speaking on VOC NewsBeat, Professor Hassan Mohammad, a public health expert, laments the suspension of PEPFAR, remarking that the present paradigm is confusing for many in the health fraternity.
“A confusing period for some organizations, for some projects, there was some relief given where some people were told they would receive their funds, but then the whole infrastructure of USAID—the funding agency—is sort of destroyed as part of the process. As a result, even though people were told they would get their funds, many did not receive them, and there was no mechanism in place to distribute the funds. It has been a confusing period, making it very difficult to adapt,” states Mohammad.
According to Professor Mohammad, this lack of funding has forced organizations and the National Health Department to search for alternatives, which include absorbing aspects that USAID would usually cover.
“What has been happening is that governments whose services have been affected have had to find ways of adjusting, and the way they have done that is to look at the extent to which they can absorb the services that have been lost or whether they can change the way they run their services to make them a bit more efficient,” adds Mohammad.
Listen to the full interview here:
