KwaZulu-Natal Cosatu secretary Edwin Mkhize has raised concern about the effect of US President Donald Trump’s decision to terminate aid funds to South Africa. Picture: Siyanda Mayeza / Independent Newspapers
WITH fear that American President Donald Trump’s decision to terminate health financial aid to many countries, including South Africa, would affect health and lead to job losses, Cosatu has called on KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane to deal with the pending situation.
The biggest union federation’s provincial structure said the decision, which Trump announced soon after his inauguration, to withdraw the US president’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) would inflict pain on the poor and “has disregarded workers’ livelihood”.
“We call on our Health MEC to engage all the NGOs, service providers, contracting and agreement officers, and implementing partners on what other measures could be considered to continue with the services and to protect workers jobs,” Cosatu provincial secretary Edwin Mkhize said in a statement on Friday.
He also called on the national government to get clarity from the US, which he said would have dire ramifications on health workers employed by US-funded non-governmental organisations.
He said Trump’s return to the White House posed serious threats to poor people’s lives.
He said the US aid was not a charity as South African economy played in the development of the US.
“This move will cause further harm and an increase in unemployment of healthcare practitioners, nurses, doctors, data captures, office administrators, HIV/Aids counsellors, etc.
“Clinics and hospitals are being deprived of receiving extra capacity through the aid, such as doctors, nurses and other deployment of infrastructure to serve the most vulnerable section of our society, in particular rural poor and our communities in townships.
“This means interventions in curbing the extent of TB, HIV/Aids, and communicable diseases must be abandoned,” he said.
When approached for comment on Cosatu’s request, provincial health communications referred this reporter to an interview, which Simelane recently conducted with an in-house online TV station on Friday, where she said America mostly supported HIV/Aids projects in South Africa.
She said some of the US-funded organisations, which worked hand-in-hand with the provincial government, shut down last week since Trump’s instruction was with immediate effect.
“HIV/Aids drugs are not purchased for us by another country, they are bought by the South African government.
“If the US president terminates the funding, he is not stopping us from buying the drugs,” said Simelane.
She said since organisations that delivered the drugs to the doorsteps of the patients’ homes would no longer operate, the patients would be directed to collect the drugs from certain clinics or pharmacies.
She her department was still assessing the situation to establish how many nurses, doctors, and data capturers would lose their jobs “and to deal with the situation”.
Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi poured cold water on the impact of Trump’s decision, saying PEPFAR only contributed 17% in the country’s fight against HIV/Aids.
“Seventy-six percent of the funding is from South Africa, 74% by the government fiscus and 2% by the private sector, including all medical aids in South Africa in a fight against HIV/Aids.
“That leaves us with a gap that is filled by the global fund, which gives 7% and PEPFAR gives 17%.
“When you add Global Fund and South Africa, either government or private sector, then you realise that is 83% and PEPFAR remains with 17%,” said Motsoaledi.
He said the acquisition of ARVs would not be affected as this came from the Global Fund’s 10%, which was donated to the government.
However, he said Trump’s termination would affect salaries and operations of PEPFAR projects, which would now be adopted by the government.
He said this was the Health Department’s biggest problem, which was currently being discussed by the National Treasury.
“They (National Treasury) said we must write a dossier and send it to them, we have just finished that dossier and sent it to them showing some of these things,” he said.
bongani.hans@inl.co.za