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The TB Accountability Consortium is disappointed that Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has failed to account for the additional finances required to cover the activities that were sponsored by funding from the US government, that have now been withdrawn.

If this funding gap is not addressed, critical support in the provision of HIV and TB services in South Africa will be crippled.

There are about 280 000 people estimated to have TB each year and it remains the biggest infectious disease killer. Just under 60% of people with TB are co-infected with HIV.  The aid that was halted from the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) funds 17% of HIV and TB services in South Africa, and amounts to about R7billion. It covers the salaries for 15 000 health workers, of which 8000 are community health workers, 2000 are nurses and 300 are doctors.

In his State of the Nation address in February President Cyril Ramaphosa noted with concern the funding gap and announced that the government was looking at “various interventions to address the immediate needs and ensure the continuity of essential services”. The health sector has anticipated details of a programme to transition the services. However, in delivering his speech today remained mum on the US aid gaps.

Godongwana acknowledged the pressures on the health system and offered a R28million bail out to the health sector.

TBAC Coordinator Sihle Mahonga-Ndawonde said that while the consortium welcomes the additional investments in health, it was concerning that the PEPFAR funding gap had not been addressed. “It is critical that the government provide guidance on how these services will be covered. Millions of people rely on this lifesaving treatment,”  she said.

Issued by the TB Accountability Consortium