The entire HIV/Aids/TB research and service sector in SA has been hollowed out by the US government’s substantial cuts to its international aid programmes.
The latest move at the weekend saw the termination of grants for HIV/Aids research in SA as well as similar research grants in the rest of the world.
This is all part of the withdrawal by the US administration under President Donald Trump from multilateral bodies and initiatives such as the World Health Organisation (WHO), Nato, the UN Human Rights Council and the Paris Agreement on climate change. He has also threatened to withdraw from the World Trade Organisation.
The shutdown of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has dealt a substantial blow to global development efforts.
The irony is that the US itself benefits from global WHO initiatives, for example, on flu vaccines and from medical research on diseases such as HIV/Aids, the results of which benefit US pharmaceutical companies.
Trump’s redefining of the US’s role in international affairs has created upheaval and undermined the principles of solidarity and collaboration that underpin multilateral institutions. If this is partly motivated by the bid to reduce the US federal government’s budget deficit, which amounted to $1.7-trillion in 2023 and 124% of GDP in December 2024, it is shortsighted.
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