Funding crisis hits HIV and TB health services

More than two months after the abrupt withdrawal of Usaid funding left nearly 700 healthcare workers at risk and essential HIV/TB services in crisis, vulnerable children are now facing the most devastating fallout yet.

- NAMHLA MONAKALI

In a follow-up to our 11 March report, new testimony from affected families reveal the human cost behind the R360 million shortfall.

Community-based organisations like Empilweni, funded through Nacosa's Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) Programme, are scaling back or shutting down, leaving children with HIV without psychosocial support, medical linkage, or basic legal documentation.

"These are not just numbers. These are children's lives, teens finding out their HIV status for the first time, caregivers holding families together," said Vuyi Skiti, head of monitoring and evaluation at Nacosa. "If we disappear, so does their safety net."