Johannesburg (AP) – South Africa The nation’s finance minister stated on Wednesday that there are insufficient funds to address the $430 million gap resulting from the Trump administration’s foreign aid reductions.
Finance Minister Enoch Godonwana addressed the assembly, revealing the revised budget. Enhanced value This has sparked public demonstrations and intense disagreements among political factions within the ruling coalition.
Without that tax revenue, he noted that South Africa lacks the financial resources to offset the cuts jeopardizing a vast support network for one of the largest HIV-positive populations in the world.
The country oversees the largest medical network globally.
The Finance Minister spoke right before President Cyril Ramaphosa’s much-anticipated Meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House.
Earlier this year, Abolishing USAID According to the Trump administration, around $436 million in annual funding for HIV treatment and prevention in South Africa has vanished, and crucial programs have disappeared. Thousands of healthcare jobs are at stake.
Godonwana mentioned that the revised budget will focus on financial resources to support what can be currently achieved and will defer other programs until “our resources permit.”
He cautioned that there may be additional challenges ahead.
“Financial pressures that might require funding later this year include withdrawals from the presidential emergency plan for AIDS relief, known as Pepfar, particularly through the United States,” he stated.
“We do not currently specify that allocation.”
Globally, Pepfar is believed to have saved at least 26 million lives since its inception in 2003, as reported by the UN AIDS Agency.
Previous budget outlines in South Africa allocated R28.9 billion ($1.6 billion) to health. The latest allocation will instead provide a significantly reduced R20.7 billion ($1.1 billion). These funds will aim to protect around 4,700 health jobs, sustain 800 doctors who have ceased community services, and tackle shortages in medical supplies and services.
Source: apnews.com