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The withdrawal of United States funding has severely compromised South Africa’s HIV prevention infrastructure, according to a report released Tuesday by Physicians for Human Rights.
These cuts follow the implementation of President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy last year, which significantly reduced the 17% contribution Washington previously made to South Africa’s HIV budget.
The report warns that abandoning these long-standing health delivery platforms effectively wastes billions of dollars in prior investments.
A critical consequence of this funding gap is the hindered rollout of lenacapavir, a highly effective, twice-yearly injectable prevention drug that reached South Africa this month.
Experts argue that while the medical technology is now available, the community-based outreach and peer education programmes necessary to distribute it have been dismantled.
Without these funded support systems, many high-risk individuals may remain unaware that such advanced prevention options even exist.
The true scale of the impact remains difficult to quantify because funding for essential data collection was also eliminated.
However, interviews with health workers and advocates indicate widespread disruptions for vulnerable groups, including young people and sex workers, who are now struggling to access basic services.
While recent U.S. government figures suggest global aid totals remain steady, the data also reveal a troubling decline in HIV testing and new diagnoses within the region.
