Advocacy groups say redirecting R754m to cover Pepfar’s exit adds pressure to budgets and endangers decades of health progress.
Submissions to the select committee on appropriations on the Special Appropriation Bill have warned that without decisive, transparent and long-term reforms, two decades of progress in the fight against HIV and TB could be undone.
The Bill appropriates an additional amount of funds for the requirements for health for the 2025-26 financial year to address the shortfall resulting from the withdrawal by the US of donor funding.
US donor funding cuts
The Financial and Fiscal Commission (FFC), Rural Health Advocacy Project (RHAP), TB Accountability Consortium, Section27 and Treatment Action Campaign all raised serious concerns about the Bill, which redirects R754 million to fill the gap left by the withdrawal of Pepfar donor funding.
Pepfar, the US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief, is a US global initiative to combat the HIV/Aids epidemic, which was frozen in January by the Donald Trump administration.
ALSO READ: Gauteng Health launches STI prevention drive targeting men
While the Bill and the Pepfar Bridge Plan, worth R2 billion, are broadly supported as short-term lifelines, the organisations have cautioned that these were merely stopgaps masking a deeper structural crisis in the country’s health financing system.
The FFC welcomed the Bill but warned that redirecting funds from the National Revenue Fund [NRF] will add strain to already limited fiscal space, highlighting that persistent underspending 3% across all health programmes in 2023-24, may render upward adjustments unjustified.
Health advocates warn HIV and TB progress may collapse
The commission’s submission warned that: “Redirecting R754 million from [NRF]… adds strain to limited fiscal space and may reduce funding for other social priorities.
“Without a plan, HIV and TB goals will fail,” the RHAP submitted.
NOW READ: What will happen to HIV/ Aids healthcare when PEPFAR funding ends early next year?
