Posts
US and South African government
officials recently agreed to terms detailing how the US President’s Emergency
Plan for AIDS Relief program will draw down its South African support and shift
funds from service delivery to technical assistance. Now, the Department of
Health has secured grant extensions for some PEPFAR-assisted projects, giving
their managing organizations enough time to make alternative plans so that no
patients are affected.
Since 2003, the United States has
been South Africa’s largest HIV/AIDS donor, contributing $3.2 billion. By 2017,
annual US grants to South Africa will decline to $250 million from the current
fiscal year’s $484 million.
Some nongovernmental organizations
will see their five-year PEPFAR grants end with the closing of the US fiscal
year next month, prompting the urgent need to secure funding to continue their
HIV/AIDS services.
Yogan Pillay, the health
department’s deputy director-general for strategic health programs, said grant
extensions have been arranged for NGOs until January. “The immediate [priority]
is to ensure no patient is worse off than they were under PEPFAR,” said Pillay.
“PEPFAR funding will not decline
significantly immediately, but in three to five years,” said Mark Blecher, the
Treasury’s director for social services. “So changes to the funding of specific
NGOs now are probably more due to specific business cases that may have or have
not been approved by PEPFAR, based on its own internal funding policy.”
Both US and South African officials
have promised that the shift in priorities will be carefully managed to protect
patients. “This is a five-year timeframe [and] provides enough time to work
together to make sure there is no break in services,” said James Maloney,
deputy PEPFAR coordinator for South Africa.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
