Motsoaledi to send team to US over plans to cut HIV/Aids treatment funding

America helps fund the South African government's initiatives to address the HIV/Aids pandemic.

JOHANNESBURG – Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi says the government will send a team to the US following an announcement that Washington plans to cut funding for HIV/Aids treatment programmes.

Motsoaledi said that the announcement is not final at this stage. South Africa has the biggest HIV/Aids treatment plan in the world.

America helps fund the South African government's initiatives to address the pandemic.

Motsoaledi said that 80% of the HIV scheme is funded from SA's own fiscal and 20% from development partners, which includes the US's President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar).

Pepfar donated more than R10 billion to South Africa for the 2018/19 financial year.

Motsoaledi added that it’s not only South Africa but for other countries too, including India.

“Anything that a development partner doesn’t fund you, you try to find it internally. So, wholly depends on us as South Africans, whether we believe in order to live Americans must do something.

“But if we believe in order to live, we stand on our own, and then it means our own internal sources must do something about it.”