South Africans fear spike in HIV infections as US aid cuts bite

SOUTH AFRICA: Gugu used to collect her antiretrovirals from a USAID-funded clinic in central Johannesburg.

But when President Trump’s cuts to aid funding were announced earlier this year, she and thousands of other HIV-positive patients across South Africa suddenly faced an uncertain future.

Gugu was lucky, the clinic where she got the medication that helps suppress her symptoms contacted her before it closed down.

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“I was one of the people who was able to get their medication in bulk. I usually collect a three-month prescription. But before my clinic closed, they gave me nine months’ worth of medication.”

She will run out of antiretrovirals (ARVs) in September, and then plans on going to her local public hospital for more.

A former sex worker, the 54-year-old found out she was HIV-positive after she’d quit the industry.