American funding to boost SA’s AIDS programme
The funding will significantly impact South Africa’s AIDS treatment goals
IN the context of AIDS relief, the USA President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has pledged 20% of its worldwide budget towards South Africa’s AIDS relief programme.
The announcement was made by the Office of the US Global AIDS Co-ordinator at the ninth South African AIDS Conference, held recently in Durban.
The R10-billion ($732-million) investment was welcomed by South Africa’s Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize, who said the funding would significantly contribute towards the country’s AIDS treatment goals.
These include initiating HIV treatment for an additional two million patients and providing HIV-TB screening and testing services to 28 million, both by December 2020.
This COP19 (Country Operational Plan) funding is in addition to last year’s COP18 funding of just over R9-billion ($678-million).
COP19 PEPFAR funding will continue the long-standing partnership between PEPFAR and the South African government to provide comprehensive, quality HIV prevention and treatment programmes for South Africans.
According to United States Chargé d’Affaires Jessica Lapenn, COP19 will prioritise continued HIV treatment scale-up and HIV treatment quality, including adherence and retention, and to ensure that people living with HIV who do not yet receive life-saving anti-retroviral treatment get urgent access.
‘This scale-up will focus on the highest burden districts in South Africa and will support President Cyril Ramaphosa’s pledge to provide HIV treatment to an additional two million South Africans by 2020,’ she said.
‘Together we must accelerate the pace in order to reach this goal.’
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