US funding for clinical research in South Africa is incrementally being cancelled. This is happening through at least two processes – the first is by banning certain kinds of foreign grants called sub-awards (which is affecting everyone globally). The second is by failing to issue routine renewals of grants for clinical studies in South Africa. Spotlight and GroundUp break down the current situation.
Experts say bacterial infections are responsible for more infant deaths than is generally recognised, and things may get worse as more of the bugs become resistant to commonly used antibiotics. Sue Segar asked local experts about this growing threat to newborns.
With a new head, there is quiet optimism in some circles that a turnaround in the Free State Department of Health’s fortunes could be on the cards. Masechaba Sesing talked to Spotlight’s Ufrieda Ho about her plans for the department.
In late-January, the US suspended billions of dollars worth of international aid, including for HIV-related programmes in South Africa. The South African government could have responded by triggering an emergency funding mechanism but has failed to do so yet. In the meantime, activists, health researchers and even technical advisors to government are growing increasingly frustrated with the government’s lack of transparency on this issue.
Health research in South Africa has been plunged into crisis with the abrupt termination of several large research grants from the US, with more grant terminations expected in the coming days and weeks. Professor Ntobeko Ntusi, head of the South African Medical Research Council, tells Spotlight about efforts to find alternative funding and to preserve the country’s health research capacity.
Top local researchers estimate that the cancellation of funding from the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief could lead to a significant increase in HIV infections and deaths in South Africa. Jesse Copelyn reports.
There is no shortage of myths about the cancellation of US foreign assistance. This includes the widely held misconception that PEPFAR is exempt from US aid cuts and the belief that grant terminations are just taking place in South Africa. Many of these falsehoods have been reinforced by US and South African officials. Spotlight and GroundUp dissect some of the most popular misconceptions.
Medical researchers in South Africa are in limbo as they wait to hear whether over R800 million in research grants from the United States National Institutes of Health will be terminated. South Africa’s top universities, which receive the bulk of the funding, will be particularly hard hit if the cuts materialise. Catherine Tomlinson reports.
After the US slashed global aid, the South African government stated that only 17% of its HIV spending relied on US funding. But some experts argue that US health initiatives had more bang for buck than the government’s programmes. Jesse Copelyn looks past the 17% figure, and considers how the health system is being affected by the loss of US money.
Amid major disruptions caused by aid cuts from the United States government, the health department aims to enrol a record number – an additional 1.1 million – of people living with HIV on life-saving antiretroviral medicine this year. Experts tell Spotlight it can’t be business as usual if this ambitious programme is to have a chance of succeeding. Ufrieda Ho reports.
Medical aid schemes will be given collective power to negotiate prices, according to draft regulations published last week. While some see the move as an important step toward reining in private healthcare prices, others argue that they do not go far enough and are legally unsound. Chris Bateman spoke to several leading experts about the proposed reforms.
Recent media reports over the future of NHI have been contradictory and hard to make sense of. Chris Bateman chased up those in a position to know where things stand – it seems the ANC has not in fact made any major concessions on NHI. There is however agreement that medical schemes won’t be phased out in the next few years, something that likely wouldn’t have happened in any case given the poor state of the economy and the long timeline for NHI implementation.
