The US government has slowed its withdrawal of support from South Africa’s HIV/Aids treatment programmes to ensure patients are not left in the lurch. [s]Business Day[/s] reports that the [b]US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief[/b] (Pepfar), the biggest foreign donor to SA’s HIV/Aids programmes, triggered concern among doctors and patients when it announced in 2012 that it planned to halve its support to SA by 2017. Not only did Pepfar intend to cut its annual support to SA from $484m to $250m by 2017, but also said it would shift funding from programmes that had provided treatment directly to HIV patients, to ‘technical support’ for the public health system.
Over the last two years there has been less than a 10% decline in the funding,’ says US Global AIDS co-ordinator Deborah Birx. ‘There is an outer year agreement to decrease funds, and we are working …. on the projections. We have an in-country team working here to ensure patients are retained in care. Everyone shares the concerns (about adherence).’
[link url=http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/health/2014/06/09/us-slows-withdrawal-of-support-for-sa-s-aids-patients]Full Business Day report[/link]