National Treasury says it is planning to approach Parliament for a Special Appropriation Bill to bridge the funding shortfall in Health and the gap left by the withdrawal of US funding from the sector, reports BusinessLIVE.
It said a copy of the Bill would be available on the National Treasury website once it had been introduced in the House.
The country’s laws make provision for these special Bills in unforeseen circumstances, with legislators then being able to sanction the withdrawal of funds from the national revenue fund.
Pepfar had contributed a substantial amount to SA’s HIV response, supporting the Department of Health in 27 HIV/Aids high-burden districts out of 52 districts in eight provinces, except for Northern Cape.
After the withdrawal of Pepfar, the department had asked Treasury for help and it had released about R753m, comprising R590m for service delivery in provinces, R32m to the national department, and R132m to the SA Medical Research Council to support health researchers countrywide.
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said these amounts were intended to cover the most pressing needs and further allocations might be considered later
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Treasury bails out HIV/Aids projects blindsided by Pepfar cuts
No extra funding in Budget for Pepfar gaps