Clinics short-staffed after Pepfar funding cuts

A health monitoring organisation has found that, in areas with a high number of people with HIV, US funding cuts have led to staff shortages and overburdened clinics.

- Liezl Human

The cuts in the US President’s Emergency Plan For Aids Relief (Pepfar) in February created a massive shortfall in funding to South Africa’s HIV programmes.

The treasury agreed to fund about R753 million to cover some of the shortfall. (Measuring the total Pepfar shortfall is complicated but it is roughly R7 billion.)

A report over three months by Ritshidze — a South African community-led clinic monitoring organisation — shows that Pepfar cuts to HIV programmes have led to reduced staff and longer waiting times for ARV medicines.

From April to June Ritshidze monitored over 325 facilities in 16 districts across six provinces. Most were Pepfar-priority districts or formerly Pepfar-supported districts where contracts have been cut.