Health Minister Motsoaledi addresses HIV testing decline

PEPFAR CUTS

- KAREN SINGH [e-mail]

MINISTER of Health Aaron Motsoaledi said yesterday that while there may be a decline in HIV testing following the funding cuts by the United States’ President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Pepfar), the country’s HIV/Aids programme is not collapsing.

This comes after Reuters reported this week that data from an unpublished document by the National Health Laboratory Service, a government entity, showed that viral load testing declined by up to 21% among key groups in the last two months.

For individuals with HIV undergoing anti-retroviral therapy, viral load testing quantifies the amount of virus present in their bloodstream.

Viral load testing for individuals aged 15-24 declined by 17.2% last month compared to last April, after dropping 7.8% year-on-year in March. Overall population testing decreased 11.4% in April, according to Reuters.

Maternal viral load testing was down 21.3% last month, after declining by 9.1% in March. Early infant diagnostic testing was also down 19.9% in April after declining by 12.4% in March.

Nationwide, viral suppression rates among tested individuals decreased by 3.4% in March and 0.2% last month. Young adults had greater declines, suggesting potential disruptions in patient treatment, the data showed.