Health Dept has not received any donor funds since US withdrawal of HIV/AIDS funding

CAPE TOWN - Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said that his department had not received a cent from any funders since the United States (US) withdrew its support of HIV/Aids programmes in January.

However, Motsoaledi on Thursday moved to allay fears that the country’s treatment programmes would collapse without what’s known as PEPFAR funding.

On Wednesday, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) protested at a parliamentary health committee meeting to draw attention to the disruptions caused by the closure of clinics that were supported from this funding.

The health minister, this week, faced backlash from the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Parliament for being slow to plug the PEPFAR funding gap.

But on Thursday, Motsoaledi listed several engagements he’s had since the funding withdrawal, including with the Bill Clinton Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

However, he said that none had come through to help plug the nearly R8 billion hole.

"We’ve raised nothing except the R1 billion from the global fund to buy ARVs [anti-retrovirals]. Up to so far, we haven’t raised a cent from anybody, we’ve raised nothing."

Motsoaledi confirmed the closure of 12 specialised clinics since the funding cut, and the loss of over 8,000 jobs.

"We’ve met all these funders, even governments, who are all promising, but none has come to the fore, and said this is how much we will give you."

Motsoaledi said he'd also met with the National Lottery to assist, but this had also not yet been successful.

In 2010, the National Lottery contributed R17 million to the treatment campaign. Last week, the deputy president, as the chair of the South African National Aids Council, also said the council had approached the lottery for assistance.

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