US aid cuts halt HIV vaccine research in South Africa, with global impact

JOHANNESBURG AP Just a week had remained before scientists in South Africa were to begin clinical trials of an HIV vaccine and hopes were high for another step toward limiting one of history s deadliest pandemics Then the email arrived Stop all work it stated The United States under the Trump administration was withdrawing all its funding The news devastated the researchers who live and work in a region where more people live with HIV than anywhere else in the world Their research project called BRILLIANT was meant to be the latest to draw on the region s genetic diversity and deep expertise in the hope of benefiting people everywhere But the million from the U S for the project was disappearing part of the dismantling of foreign aid by the world s biggest donor earlier this year as President Donald Trump reported a focus on priorities at home South Africa hit hard by aid cuts South Africa has been hit especially hard because of Trump s baseless proposes about the targeting of the country s white Afrikaner minority The country had been receiving about million a year via USAID and the HIV-focused PEPFAR Now that s gone Glenda Grey who heads the Brilliant project revealed the African continent has been vital to the rise of HIV medication and the U S cuts threaten its capability to do such work in the future Vital advances have included clinical trials for lenacapavir the world s only twice-a-year shot to prevent HIV lately approved for use by the U S Food and Drug Administration One assessment to show its efficacy involved young South Africans We do the trials better faster and cheaper than anywhere else in the world and so without South Africa as part of these programs the world in my opinion is much poorer Gray explained She noted that during the urgency of the COVID- pandemic South Africa played a crucial role by testing the Johnson Johnson and Novavax vaccines and South African scientists genomic surveillance led to the identification of an critical variant Labs empty and thousands are laid off A gang of researchers at the University of the Witwatersrand has been part of the unit growing the HIV vaccines for the trials Inside the Wits laboratory technician Nozipho Mlotshwa was among the young people in white gowns working on samples but she may soon be out of a job Her position is grant-funded She uses her salary to assistance her family and fund her studies in a country where youth unemployment hovers around It s very sad and devastating honestly she mentioned of the U S cuts and overall uncertainty We ll also miss out collaborating with other scientists across the continent Professor Abdullah Ely leads the group of researchers He reported the work had promising results indicating that the vaccines were producing an immune response But now that momentum he commented has all kind of had to come to a halt The BRILLIANT project is scrambling to find money to save the project The purchase of key equipment has stopped South Africa s wellbeing department says about researchers for that effort and others related to HIV have been laid off Funding for postdoctoral students involved in experiments for the projects is at danger South Africa s ruling body has estimated that universities and science councils could lose about million in U S research funding over the next five years due to the aid cuts which affect not only work on HIV but also tuberculosis another malady with a high number of cases in the country Less money and less figures on what s affected South Africa s regime has explained it will be very formidable to find funding to replace the U S backing And now the number of HIV infections will grow Medication is more demanding to obtain At least vitality workers in South Africa s HIV activity have already been laid off the ruling body has revealed Also gone are the figures collectors who tracked patients and their care as well as HIV counselors who could reach vulnerable patients in rural communities For researchers Universities South Africa an umbrella body has applied to the national treasury for over million for projects at specific of the largest schools During a visit to South Africa in June UNAIDS executive director Winnie Byanyima was well aware of the stakes and the lives at exposure as research and medical care struggle in South Africa and across Africa at large Other countries that were highly dependent on U S funding including Zambia Nigeria Burundi and Ivory Coast are already increasing their own materials she explained But let s be clear what they are putting down will not be funding in the same way that the American materials were funding Byanyima reported