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 disclosed 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 disclosed 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 states 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 disclosed the African continent has been vital to the progress of HIV medication and the U S cuts threaten its capability to do such work in the future Key advances have included clinical trials for lenacapavir the world s only twice-a-year shot to prevent HIV in recent times approved for use by the U S Food and Drug Administration One scrutiny 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 declared 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 fundamental variant Labs empty and thousands are laid off A club 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 advocacy her family and fund her studies in a country where youth unemployment hovers around It s very sad and devastating honestly she reported 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 organization of researchers He mentioned the work had promising results indicating that the vaccines were producing an immune response But now that momentum he explained has all kind of had to come to a halt The BRILLIANT effort is scrambling to find money to save the project The purchase of key equipment has stopped South Africa s medical 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 governing 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 infection with a high number of cases in the country Less money and less details on what s affected South Africa s regime has disclosed it will be very demanding to find funding to replace the U S aid And now the number of HIV infections will grow Medication is more challenging to obtain At least fitness workers in South Africa s HIV plan have already been laid off the leadership has commented Also gone are the details 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 selected 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 hazard 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 tools she declared But let s be clear what they are putting down will not be funding in the same way that the American information were funding Byanyima noted