By Enyichukwu Enemanna
China says it would invest the sum of $3.49 million to support HIV prevention services in South Africa over the next two years under a new partnership facilitated by UNAIDS, Beijing’s top official announced on Thursday.
South Africa has the world’s largest population of people living with HIV. Pretoria previously relied on the U.S. for about 17% of its HIV budget which stands at over $400 million a year.
This assistance has significantly dropped since January when President Donald Trump came to power and announced sweeping cut in foreign aid.
Pretoria is now trying to plug the gap with domestic resources and support from other partners.
The Chinese grant will go towards HIV prevention services for young people and people who inject drugs as two of the groups at highest risk of HIV infection.
“We are honoured to deepen our longstanding partnership with South Africa through this grant to support the country’s HIV response,” Chinese Ambassador Wu Peng said in a statement ahead of the G20 leaders’ summit in Johannesburg.
“In addition to this project, we stand ready to assist South Africa in establishing a sustainable HIV/AIDS response system through policy dialogue, innovative drug supply, technology transfer, and capacity building,” he stated further.
South African Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi welcomed the support, saying it strengthened the country’s HIV response.
The announcement follows a 2024 cooperation agreement between China’s development agency and UNAIDS, the United Nations agency focusing on the longstanding HIV/AIDS pandemic.
