- A month into the foreign aid crisis that the Trump administration’s funding cuts have resulted in, the big question in the HIV world is: what will happen to Pepfar?
- Pepfar, the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief, is the US government’s Aids fund, which helped to buy antiretroviral treatment for Africa over the past two decades and saved millions of lives.
- The US government is also the biggest donor of the Global Fund for HIV, TB and Malaria, and if the Trump administration decides to pull the US government’s contributions, the consequences could be catastrophic.
- Moreover, along with the Global Fund, Pepfar was going to buy 2-million doses of an anti-HIV shot, lenacapavir, for poorer countries, including South Africa. The injection lowers users’ chances of getting HIV to virtually 0. But will the Trump government honour that promise?
- Mia Malan asked these questions to Jirair Ratevosian, who was Pepfar’s head of staff in 2022 and 2023. Ratevosian is currently a Hock infectious disease fellow at Duke University’s Global Health Institute.
In today’s newsletter, Mia Malan asks if Pepfar will survive Trump. Sign up for our newsletter today.
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Mia Malan is the founder and editor-in-chief of Bhekisisa. She has worked in newsrooms in Johannesburg, Nairobi and Washington, DC, winning more than 30 awards for her radio, print and television work.
Danny Booysen is a freelance audio technical producer and has over 30 years of experience in the broadcast industry.
