(MENAFN) South African Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has assured that the nation’s leading HIV/AIDS initiative “will not collapse” despite the cessation of financial support from the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Pepfar) earlier this year.

In response, the National Treasury has allocated R753 million to bolster the program, while international collaborators have pledged an additional R600 million to aid in treatment efforts and scientific research.

Earlier in the year, the administration of US President Donald Trump declared it would terminate all funding through Pepfar, following a series of reductions in global health aid under the same government.

This move by USAID has created a substantial funding shortfall, especially in countries like South Africa, where Pepfar historically covered around 17 percent of the HIV/AIDS initiatives.

During the presentation of the Department of Health’s 2025/26 budget in Parliament on Wednesday, Minister Motsoaledi emphasized the department’s three primary objectives: fortifying the public healthcare system in preparation for the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme, eradicating major illnesses including HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, and enacting long-awaited reforms within the private healthcare sector.

Motsoaledi stated firmly, “There is no way we are going to allow the world’s biggest HIV/AIDS Programme to collapse – never.”

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