MINISTER BLOCKS HIV 'TESTING CRISIS' SPIN

Drop attributed to Pepfar funding cuts

- KAREN SINGH

SOUTH Africa's HIV/Aids programme is not collapsing despite recent declines in viral load testing linked to funding cuts from the US' President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Pepfar), Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has said.

This comes after Reuters reported this week that data from an unpublished document by the National Health Laboratory Service, a government entity, seen by the agency, showed that viral load testing declined by up to 21% among key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

For people living with HIV and taking anti-retroviral therapy, viral load testing measures how much of the virus is in their bloodstream. Viral load testing for individuals aged 15-24 declined by 17.2% in April 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% in April, 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.

Additionally, nationwide, viral suppression rates among tested individuals decreased by 3.4% in March and 0.2% in April. Young adults experienced even greater declines, suggesting potential disruptions in patient treatment, the data showed.