Latest news with #HIV-related
Deccan Herald
3 days ago
- Health
- Deccan Herald
Trump administration ends program critical to search for an HIV vaccine
The program's elimination is the latest in a series of cuts to HIV-related initiatives, and to prevention of the disease in particular. Separately, the NIH also paused funding for a clinical trial of an HIV vaccine made by Moderna.
IOL News
08-05-2025
- Health
- IOL News
Mashatile says resources are mobilised to counter Pepfar funding withdrawal
Deputy President Paul Mashatile has assured Parliament that the government was currently taking measures to prevent the negative effects that could result from withdrawal of the US funding. Image: File Deputy President Paul Mashatile outlined on Thursday the mobilisation of various resources from other quarters to plug the gap caused by the withdrawal of President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Pepfar) funding. Responding to questions during the question session in the National Assembly, Mashatile assured parliamentarians that the government was currently taking measures to prevent the negative effects that could result from withdrawal of the US funding. He noted that the UNAid and other partners have indicated the funding withdrawal without adequate replacement could lead to significant increase in HIV-related death and new infections over the next decade. 'The abrupt withdrawal of the funding has resulted already in job losses and a negative impact on the national response to HIV, TB and sexually transmitted infections.' Mashatile said Science, Technology and Innovation minister Blade Nzimande has announced the establishment of a working group on science, technology and innovation funding to advise him on the implication and the impact of recent withdrawal of funding particularly on key research and development programmes in the country. 'The working group will examine risk-mitigating considerations related to external funding, particularly of research and development programmes in critical areas of national systems and innovation," said Mashatile. He also said the government through the national and provincial departments of Health has contingency plans to address the gaps resulting from the funding withdrawal to sustain delivery of health service. Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi was engaging with Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana to discuss the possibility of the funding gap from the government's fiscus with teams from the departments already in talks to discuss funding options. 'The Department of Health and the National Treasury, working with provincial departments are assessing the level of need in relation to the programmes to in each of the 27 priority districts that were supported by Pepfar. This is with a view of rationalising and consolidating implementing partners and integrating some of the programmes into primary health care and district health systems.' Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. 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Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ Mashatile added that the South African National Aids Council has approached the national Lottery Commission (NLC) and the private sector to garner further funding. 'The NLC has submitted a funding application which is considered by discretionary emerging funding. We are hopeful all these resources mobilisation efforts will yield positive results as we can't afford to have service delivery gaps in relation to health programmes, particularly those focusing on HIV and TB. 'We will continue with our efforts to find sufficient resources to sustain health programmes, including engaging other countries not only to assist us in funding but looking at affordable drugs,' said Mashatile. Mashatile highlighted that the foreign funding from Pepfar amounted to R8 billion and made assurances that HIV, Aids and TB programmes were fully funded in this financial year. 'We are going to ensure that we try to be self sufficient as country on these matters.' He noted some of the Pepfar funding was used to pay for salaries and Motsoaledi will be engaged if government cannot employ as many people who lost employment due to the funding withdrawal. 'I am confident that we will find a solution.' Mashatile added they will talk to other countries in Europe, the East and EU whether they could not get assistance particularly affordable drugs. 'The decision by the US administration to cut funding must be something that really propels us to take urgent efforts to be self-reliant not only as South Africa but as a continent as a whole,' he said.
BBC News
04-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
HIV: 'I was told I had between three and nine months to live'
"I was told I had a virus with no cure and between three and nine months to live."HIV activist Jonathan Blake believes he was one of, if not the first person to be diagnosed in Britain with human immunodeficiency virus, known as HIV, when he was aged 33. "I was diagnosed in October 1982 at the Middlesex Hospital. It was incredibly winding."He was diagnosed so early in the UK Aids epidemic that he was named Patient L1 at the hospital, and his story was featured in the 2014 film the early days of diagnosis, he told BBC London "every single lymph node in my body had just erupted". After undergoing tests in hospital, he was kept in a side ward for two who is now 76, said he was told by doctors he would be given "palliative care when the time comes" - to which he thought: "I'm 33, do I really want to hear about palliative care?"He added: "I have been living with this virus and literally just trying to live every day. Never thinking that I will have a life, it's always been there." 'Forgotten epidemic' HIV is a virus that damages the cells in your immune system and weakens your ability to fight everyday infections and (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) is when a number of potentially life-threatening infections and illnesses happen when the immune system has been severely damaged by the HIV Aids cannot be transmitted from one person to another, the HIV virus can."It really wasn't until 2015, when they first announced 'U = U', 'Undetectable = Untransmittable', that I was no longer this kind of leper - that I had this poisoned blood, that I could infect anybody," Jonathan term means that if someone has an undetectable viral load, they cannot sexually transmit HIV to Terrence Higgins Trust charity reports that by 1999, 33m people were living with HIV worldwide while the World Health Report listed Aids as the fourth biggest killer worldwide, 20 years after the epidemic to the National Aids Trust, 2023 was the highest year for people receiving HIV care with 107,949 treated - an increase of 27% across the last 10 said: "HIV is this forgotten epidemic. It is never talked about and it's so important it is. "A lot of that is to do with stigma."He added: "I was on effective medication, because we have an amazing NHS. I am so fortunate that I have had access to the medication."The most important thing to do is know your status, be brave, get tested."The developments that are happening are extraordinary - even though there is no cure," he continued."I'm living proof." Jonathan attended the launch on Wednesday of the report Getting to zero by 2030: HIV in London at the site of the future HIV/Aids Memorial which is planned to be placed in 2018, the London mayor, London Councils, Public Health England and NHS England signed up to the Fast-Track Cities Declaration to reach zero new HIV infections, zero HIV-related stigma and zero HIV-related deaths by report, by the London Assembly Health Committee, found that despite progress in attitudes towards HIV, HIV-related stigma remained prevalent in London and the has historically had, and continues to have, higher rates of HIV than the rest of the country. However, the London Assembly said the city was leading the way globally to end new HIV cases and was seen as a leading international example through its HIV prevention and treatment programmes. The Assembly added that "concerted action" would be required to increase testing, improve access to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), ensure that everyone with HIV could access the care they needed and that services must reach people and communities who were currently missing out on them. Recommendations in the report included:Giving greater prominence to the issue of HIV, with a focus on what key actions were needed to help London reach its 2030 goalThe mayor should promote the HIV Confident charter in London and advocate for more organisations to sign up to it in 2025, including the councils, healthcare settings and businessesThe mayor should help ensure that construction of the HIV/Aids memorial in London was completed by the end of 2027 and use it as an opportunity to work with others to promote anti-stigmatising initiatives and public health messaging in relation HIV Increase in cases Chair of the London Assembly Health Committee, Krupesh Hirani, said London was "a long way off" reaching its 2030 target."After many years in which there was a year-on-year decline in new HIV cases, there has been an increase in cases in London and England since 2020. We would like to see the mayor take further action," he said.A spokesperson for the mayor said Sadiq Khan would respond to the Assembly's report in due added: "The current government has committed to commissioning a new HIV action plan and the mayor looks forward to working closely with ministers to help end HIV cases by 2030, as we build a fairer and healthier London for everyone." In December 2023, the mayor announced £130,000 of funding from the Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm towards the construction of a permanent HIV and Aids memorial in London. Aids Memory UK, which is behind the project, said the memorial would be unveiled at the end of 2027 and the artwork would take the form of a felled of Aids Memorial UK, Mzz Kimberley, also known as Kim Tatum, said: "The memorial is going to be a place where people can go and reflect, educate themselves, feel peace, talk to people."This memorial will mean that everyone who lost their life had meaning. "It's a dedication to all the people around the world who've lost their life, or the injustices that society has brought to them."The memorial means a lot to Jonathan, saying it would help "create a community - I am so proud to be part of this HIV community."I've lost lots of friends - some very, very early but some more recently, and it still hurts."
Calgary Herald
02-05-2025
- General
- Calgary Herald
Calgary's Ujamaa Grandma yarn sale begins today, continues through weekend
Article content Outside the Garrison Curling Club on Saturday, April 26, a massive truck pulled up and several people piled in and out, wheeling out boxes, bags and cartons full of rolls of yarn in all sorts of colours and designs. Article content Article content There were also knitting needles and some packages presorted and organized, others still yet to be organized and temporarily piled at designated spots inside the hall. Article content Beginning today at 10:30 a.m., the sale, one of the largest of its kind in Canada, will continue on for the next three days, until 6 p.m, today, and the following Saturday and Sunday from 10:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. and 10:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. respectively. Article content It's a sale unique for its community, cause and character. All material sold has been donated by businesses and individuals within the city and wrapped and sorted for the sale, sold at prices unbeaten elsewhere and proceeds donated to better the lives of struggling families in Africa. Article content Ujamaa, in Swahili, means 'grandmother', explained Dawn Bolger, the sale event coordinator. Article content 'We've got two huge trucks coming in here,' Bolger said on Saturday, each of which had driven through the north and south neighbourhoods of the city respectively, to pick up yarn donations at drop-off locations scattered throughout the city. Article content Article content 'And then later, we're going to have lineups of cars just bringing in stuff to drop by.' Article content Since 2012, Ujamaa Grandmas, a Calgary non-profit run entirely by volunteers has run the sale, offering materials at a fraction of the price seen elsewhere in stores. Article content The first year reaped $12,000 in sales, Bolger said. Last year, the proceeds amounted to $140,000. Article content Most proceeds from the sale goes to the Stephen Lewis foundation, a non-profit that supports AIDs and HIV-related grassroots projects in Africa, as part of the Grandmothers to Grandmothers campaign. Article content 'They go in and the communities approach them and tell them what they want,' Bolger said. 'And then they help. It's very grassroots which I like.' Article content
Daily Maverick
29-04-2025
- Health
- Daily Maverick
Inside the government's confused response to the US health funding crisis
In late January, the US suspended billions of dollars in 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 advisers to the government are growing increasingly frustrated with the government's lack of transparency on this issue. To finance some of the health services that have been defunded by the US, the Department of Health could bypass the budget and secure emergency funding from National Treasury. But this hasn't happened yet. This emergency funding mechanism falls under section 16 of the Public Finance Management Act. It authorises the finance minister to allocate funds in exceptional cases 'which cannot, without serious prejudice to the public interest, be postponed to a future parliamentary appropriation of funds'. It has long been proposed by civil society as a way for the department to save crucial HIV-related services that have been defunded by the US. Section 16 allocations can be financed by Treasury's contingency reserve or via borrowing. The contingency reserve exists partially to deal with unexpected funding gaps like the one the department has been facing for the past two and half months. In late January, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending virtually all of the US's international development funding globally. Since then, the US has moved to terminate thousands of aid contracts. This includes billions of rands worth of grants that were sponsoring crucial HIV-related services in South Africa. Spotlight and GroundUp sent questions to the Health Department about why it hadn't secured emergency funding from Treasury since the crisis began in January. In response, spokesperson Foster Mohale said Treasury did not 'indicate that they might look favourably on a motivation for section 16 funding'. It is unclear why the department needs to be told that its application will be looked on favourably in order for it to apply. Somewhat confusingly, Mohale also said the department had sent Treasury a letter which included 'firm proposals about [a] section 16 application'. We asked National Treasury's media office about this. It confirmed the existence of this proposal, saying it had received it on 15 April. Our questions to the Health Department had been sent on 14 April. Thus, it seems the department only submitted its letter to Treasury with 'firm proposals about a section 16 application' the day after we asked it questions about why it hadn't done so. Perhaps even more strangely, Mohale claimed that 'National Treasury has not formally responded to the proposal'. Yet, it appears that the Health Department had only just sent this proposal to Treasury when he made this claim. (Treasury told us it had received it on 15 April, which is the same day that Mohale said they hadn't responded). Treasury's media office said it had responded the next day, 16 April. Confusion and counterclaims Despite these bizarre media engagements, sources in the government and civil society say this isn't the first time that Treasury and the Health Department have been in communication about emergency funding. Instead, discussions about this have been ongoing. The department has apparently already submitted important information to Treasury as part of its request for financing, but has not provided detailed plans about how it would spend emergency funds. This is needed before a section 16 allocation can be issued. 'As we understand, Treasury has been waiting for the full motivation from the Department of Health around a special emergency allocation,' said Fatima Hassan of the Health Justice Initiative. 'As of 14 April, that information has not been submitted.' Since only some of the US funding gap can be financed through a section 16 allocation, the Health Department probably needs to provide very specific details about which services it wants to finance and how it plans to do this. Civil society groups are concerned that the department has done very little to gather information that would allow it to make such an assessment. For a start, there appears to have been some confusion about how the evaluation should be conducted in the first place. On 25 February, an article was published on IOL which quoted Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi as saying the department had hired Deloitte to conduct an investigation. But in response to questions from Spotlight and GroundUp, Mohale denied that Deloitte had been hired. 'The company made an offer of support but the procurement of the pro bono offer would have taken too long,' he said, 'so the department did the analysis of the available data itself.' It remains unclear what kinds of analysis the department has been doing. The US began suspending its global aid operations in late January, yet it took the department until early March just to meet the defunded organisations. The meeting didn't include all of the defunded organisations, according to Hassan, who added that many of those that were invited were only given a few hours' notice before the meeting started. Note, participants had to attend the meeting physically in Centurion. As we understand, this is the only meeting the department has yet held with defunded organisations, and it seemingly only came about following a wave of international media attention. Has the department done anything? Spotlight and GroundUp have been able to identify only a few minor cases in which the Health Department has responded to the US funding cuts. These instances primarily involve unit heads doing what they can to adapt to the situation and protect their staff. For instance, in the department's procurement unit, a few staff members were funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). After USAID pulled funding, the unit made arrangements to retain these staff members in the short term. The head of procurement, Khadija Jamaloodien, told Spotlight and GroundUp: 'We have been able to retain some capacity for a short period with the support of other partners.' To retain staff on a more permanent basis, she said, posts would need to be created and then advertised. Similarly, the department's Central Chronic Medicines Dispensing and Distribution (CCMDD) programme had two USAID-funded staff members. The head of the CCMDD, Maggie Munsamy, said a separate donor had provided funds to retain these staff. Beyond this, it seems very little has been done to address the closure of key US-funded services. One technical adviser to the Health Department told Spotlight and GroundUp: 'Our government is in denial. I think they are not appreciating the extent of the gaps that have been created. 'They've done nothing to replace the [US-funded] infrastructure… There is still no communication from the Department of Dealth as to what now… When I speak to the Department of Health and ask what we can do, there is a defining silence.' Parliament in recess during an emergency The same concerns have been echoed by several civil society groups. Hassan says that since 5 February a coalition of organisations has sent two letters to the government, asking for information about what it's doing to address the US funding cuts. Signatories to these letters include the Health Justice Initiative, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), the Cancer Alliance and SWEAT. These letters have been addressed to the ministers of health, finance and international relations, as well as the Presidency. Thus far they haven't received a single response, she says. Asked about this, Mohale stated: 'The department has met all role players that are affected by the Pepfar pause. During [these] meetings they were provided with the background to the problem as well as actions taken to address the challenges. Some of the organisations that are part of that letter, such as TAC, were invited to the meetings and they participated in the discussions.' In response, Hassan said 'several groups have requested information as far back as February. To respond by saying that one of those groups may have been involved in one or two meetings is hardly satisfactory'. It appears that Hassan's coalition is not the only one to be ignored by the government on this issue. On 4 April, a separate group, including prominent health researchers and activists, sent a letter to the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Health. Its lead signatory was Zackie Achmat, the co-founder of the TAC. The letter urged the committee to call for the funding of programmes that were previously US-backed. It also requested a meeting with the portfolio committee. The group was met with silence. On 10 April, Spotlight and GroundUp asked the committee why it hadn't responded to the letter. Shortly after, the committee sent Achmat an email saying that Parliament was in recess and that 'a date will be communicated once the committee reconvenes'. Responding to this, Achmat told Spotlight and GroundUp: 'When there is a global and national emergency, not to mention our Budget crisis, Parliament should not be in recess when needed.' If the South African government continues to stonewall civil society actors and delay its response to the crisis, the results could be dire. The most recently available data suggests that USAID has so far slashed 89% of its grants to South African organisations, worth billions of rands. And it's not clear how many of the remaining 11% are still active; at least one of the grants on the retained list has been cancelled since this data was published. As a result, USAID-funded drop-in centres that provide HIV treatment and prevention services have closed. And thousands of USAID-backed health staff working in government clinics and community settings have lost their jobs. A recent modelling study estimates that if the South African government fails to step in, US funding cuts could cause up to 65 000 extra HIV-related deaths by the end of 2028. If the government doesn't secure emergency funding to cover defunded services, it would need to wait until the budget adjustment period in September or October to allocate any additional money. In the meantime, certain clinics would continue to operate without crucial US-funded health workers, including data capturers and HIV testing staff. with HIV will continue to be left without USAID-funded counsellors. US-funded clinical trials rape survivors will remain unavailable. DM
