Latest news with #CHANGE
News24
21-05-2025
- Health
- News24
OPEN LETTER TO AARON MOTSOALEDI
Minister of Health Dr Aaron Motsoaledi's recent claim that over half a million people have been newly started on HIV treatment in less than six months has raised eyebrows. In this open letter, Anna Grimsrud and Sibongile Tshabalala-Madhlala, associated with CHANGE – South Africa, ask the minister to explain numbers. Dear Minister Motsoaledi, We write to you in response to your 15 May 2025 media statement and subsequent remarks in Parliament on the current status of the national HIV, Aids, and TB campaign. You stated that since the launch of the Close the Gap campaign, 520 700 people have been initiated on HIV treatment, reaching 'more than 50% of the target'. You also stated that 5.9 million people are currently on antiretroviral therapy (ART). However, at the campaign's launch on 25 February 2025, you reported the same number on HIV treatment - 5.9 million. This raises a critical question: if over half a million people have started or restarted treatment, why has the total number of people on treatment not increased? If both figures are accurate, this would mean that approximately 520 000 people have been lost from care over the past few months - a deeply concerning and unprecedented level of attrition. We respectfully request that you provide the underlying data and clarify the current total number of people remaining on HIV treatment. There are several reasons why we are concerned: Static treatment numbers: As noted, the number on treatment was reported as 5.9 million in both February and May 2025. If 520 700 people have been initiated or re-initiated during this period, the same number must have exited care - a scenario that requires urgent explanation. Slow growth in the number of people on treatment: According to official statements, the total number of people on HIV treatment increased by only 100 000 between March and December 2023 — from over 5.7 million to 5.8 million. The claim that the cohort has now grown by over 500 000 in a matter of months contradicts recent trends. Declining lab numbers: National Health Laboratory Service data reported by the Daily Maverick and Reuters, show notable declines in viral load testing and early infant diagnosis in March and April 2025 compared to the same months in 2024. These indicators should increase alongside meaningful growth in treatment uptake — not decrease. In light of these concerns, we believe it is essential that you provide a transparent accounting of the current number of people on treatment and the metrics being used to assess progress under the Close the Gap campaign. Specifically, we request data demonstrating that the programme is on track to meet its stated goal of increasing the number of people on treatment from 5.9 million to 7 million. We share your commitment to a strong and effective HIV response, especially in this period of financial and operational strain. Like you, we believe it is vital that accurate and complete information is shared with the public and Parliament at this critical moment. - Anna Grimsrud is an epidemiologist and writes in her personal capacity. Sibongile Tshabalala-Madhlala is openly living with HIV and currently serves as the national chairperson of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC).' CHANGE is a coalition of more than 1 500 people from civil society organisations in South Africa and around the world. CHANGE stands for Community Health & HIV Advocate Navigating Global Emergencies. *Published by GroundUp and Spotlight
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Beginner skateboarding obstacles await instillation years after donation
TUPELO — Tupelo officials are still considering what to do with skateboarding obstacles donated to the city over two years ago. Built by local welder Welding Willie's, the obstacles include two quarter pipes, two pyramids and two boxes. The equipment, designed to be set up as a beginner-level skatepark, were purchased with prize money a group of Tupelo skateboarders earned by winning the 2023 Red Bull Terminal Takeover for best video, beating out teams from much larger cities, including Houston, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Pensacola, Florida, among others. The win netted the Tupelo team $5,000 in winnings. The team raised another $5,000 from local law firm Mama Justice through its Macon a Difference Foundation and an additional $1,000 from Corey Seawright, owner of Mississippi Premier Inspections, and his brother Jonathan Seawright. Cody Floyd, who is the head instructor at Tupelo Jiu-Jitsu Academy, also donated. The proceeds were used to jumpstart a batch of obstacles for a second, beginner-friendly skatepark for the city. Since their donation, however, the ramps have remained in storage inside the city's former police station. 'What's important is how meaningful it still is to see the community come together like that,' said Matt Robinson, owner of local skateboard shop, CHANGE, and the organizer of Tupelo's annual skateboarding festival, CHANGE Fest. Robinson said it's disappointing the city hasn't installed the obstacles for young and beginning riders to use, especially after so many people contributed to its purchase. 'CHANGE Fest people raised the money, built the stuff and gave it to the city and then the city is doing their thing,' Robinson said. Robinson said following the 2023 CHANGE Fest, he and city officials began working on ideas of where to place the obstacles. The original plan, he said, was to place the ramps at the old farmer's depot downtown. Those plans fell through, however, and city officials have yet to land on a new location to set up the equipment. Tupelo Parks and Recreation Director Alex Farned said the city is still considering multiple locations for the equipment's installation, but there is nothing concrete. He said the city plans to look at its options again during the upcoming budgeting season. While the other wooden obstacles stores in that area are subject to weathering deterioration, Robinson noted that the donated ramps are made with gator skin, a composite wood designed for skating in outdoor ramps. Robinson said he saw the community do-it-yourself attitude toward building beginner-level parks in every ward as refreshing, noting that he and others involved in the festival planned to build more obstacles every year and donate them to the city for different wards. Robison said he'd like to install small skate parks in every ward, one following each iteration of CHANGE Fest. Though he said he felt the delay in installing the obstacles has 'put a wet blanket' on building community-funded parks, he does not see this as the fault of the administration, noting that as president of the skatepark association, it was up to him to help facilitate the projects. 'I actually understand and appreciate that (the city) has a process that they have to go through,' he said. 'In the meantime, we don't need a park built for that. All we need is a flat piece of concrete in the city and to not be arrested in the city.' To Robinson, the need for beginner obstacles is higher than ever with the renovation and complete reconstruction of the Boerner skatepark at Ballard Park, which opened in 2023. The $572,000 park is built to tournament specifications and isn't suited toward smaller or beginning riders.
Associated Press
27-02-2025
- Health
- Associated Press
Trump's ending of 90% of USAID foreign aid contracts slams programs around the world
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Health groups and non-governmental organizations expressed surprise and outrage Thursday and said many humanitarian programs would collapse after the Trump administration's decision to cut 90% of USAID's foreign aid contracts. The move, barely a month after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 90-day review of spending, will permanently defund programs across the world that fight hunger and disease and provide other life-saving help for millions. 'Women and children will go hungry, food will rot in warehouses while families starve, children will be born with HIV — among other tragedies,' said the InterAction group, an alliance of NGOs in the United States that work on aid programs across the world. 'This needless suffering will not make America safer, stronger, or more prosperous. Rather, it will breed instability, migration, and desperation.' Organizations that receive funding from the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, had received letters advising of the termination of their funding and programs overnight, people who spoke on condition of anonymity said. The Trump administration announced Wednesday it was stopping some $60 billion in overall aid and assistance around the world because it didn't advance American interests. Some 10,000 USAID contracts with NGOs and others were terminated in the Trump administration's move, InterAction said, 'effectively crippling American foreign assistance.' Liz Schrayer, president and CEO of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, a non-profit that promotes U.S. diplomatic and humanitarian efforts, warned that the Trump administration's move would cede ground and international influence to China, Russia and Iran. 'The American people deserve a transparent accounting of what will be lost – on counterterror, global health, food security, and competition,' Schrayer said in a statement. In South Africa, an alliance of health groups said that thousands of USAID contracts for HIV programs in the country had been permanently canceled overnight 'as the United States government abandons thousands of the most vulnerable people in South Africa and abroad.' USAID provides a large amount of funding to the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, which is credited with saving millions of lives in Africa and more than 26 million globally since it was started by Republican President George W. Bush in 2003. The letters of termination cut life-saving services for people requiring treatment for HIV and tuberculosis, said the South African health group alliance called CHANGE. South Africa has around 5.5 million people on treatment for HIV, the most in the world. While the U.S. only funds 17% of South Africa's HIV program, the cuts to USAID would put the entire program at risk because of how U.S. money helps in critical areas, CHANGE said. Trump and ally and advisor Elon Musk have hit foreign aid harder and faster than almost any other target in their push to cut the size of the federal government. Both men say USAID projects advance a liberal agenda and are a waste of money. Termination letters delivered by the administration to USAID partners across the world said their funding was being ended 'for convenience and the interests of the U.S. government,' according to a person with knowledge of the letters who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the issue. The person said the letters also advised the NGOs and programs affected that an administrator for USAID had 'determined your award is not aligned with Agency priorities and made a determination that continuing this program is not in the national interests.' U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a waiver program in the days after Trump's order freezing aid that was meant to save funding for life-saving services. Many of those waivers were not enacted, and groups said Thursday that even programs that had been initially identified as life-saving had lost their funding permanently in the new order. Trump ordered what he said would be a three-month review of which foreign assistance programs deserved to continue in his first day back in office on Jan. 20, and cut off all foreign assistance funds almost overnight. were being given a 15-minute window Thursday and Friday to clear out their workspaces. ___
