The number of HIV viral load tests is significantly lower than expected, according to an analysis of data from the National Health Laboratory Service which Spotlight and GroundUp obtained through the Promotion of Access to Information Act.
The health department has plans to roll out lenacapavir, a twice-yearly HIV prevention injection, in a select group of public sector clinics by April 2026. Meanwhile, little progress has been made towards rolling out a two-monthly prevention injection, despite the four-year head start this product had on lenacapavir. Catherine Tomlinson reports.
In response to US funding cuts for South African health services and research projects, National Treasury has provided the National Department of Health with hundreds of millions of rands in emergency funds. Spotlight and GroundUp look at how precisely the government intends to spend this money.
Spotlight and GroundUp published a two-part exposé showing how US aid cuts led to the deaths of children in Mozambique. Here, Jesse Copelyn considers what led to this tragedy and who should bear responsibility for it.
South Africa still lacks an action plan after the withdrawal of US aid for HIV and related health services. But when funds do arrive, how will they be managed? Russell Rensburg suggests the answer may lie in the District Health Programme Grant.
After the abrupt termination of American aid, the health system in central Mozambique descended into chaos. In part two of this special series, Spotlight and GroundUp describe how the funding cuts affected hospitals, where key staff were dismissed and deliveries of new medicines were halted. In the ensuing turmoil, children died.
In Mozambique, the health system is overwhelmingly built on US money. When the Trump administration instantly pulled much of this funding without warning, disease and death spread. Spotlight and GroundUp visited one of the worst affected regions to describe the human toll.
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.
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.
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.
The sudden and severe US cuts to grants from the world’s largest health research funder threaten to unravel the medical research landscape in South Africa. A crucial question now is whether the government will turn this crisis into an opportunity for renewal, write Marcus Low and Nathan Geffen.
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.
