The State Department issued a waiver for lifesaving aid, but HIV clinics remain shut and uncertainty lingers over the future of PEPFAR, which has saved 25 million lives.

A lady who said she is HIV positive has spoken out after President Donald Trump halted the issuance of free medications for people living with the disease.

PEPFAR has saved 25 million lives around the globe and is considered George W. Bush's greatest achievement. Donald Trump has left its future in doubt.

On Friday, a memorandum signed by Marco Rubio called for a 90-day cessation of foreign aid. That would likely put on hold the work of PEPFAR, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

The US State Department has lifted the ban on HIV aid to SA and other low-income after President Donald Trump issued a directive to halt it in his first week.

The US government has suspended financial support for HIV treatment programmes in Nigeria and other developing countries following an

Trump administration suspends PEPFAR funding, putting HIV/AIDS support for 5.6 million South Africans at risk.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has expressed deep concern about the funding pause for HIV programmes in low- and middle-income countries.

It comes as US President Donald Trump announced that his government will be halting all President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief funding (PEPFAR). PEPFAR has funded the distribution of HIV/AIDS treatment in South Africa and other countries for years. This means patients will have limited access to their medication.

Trump’s reckless dismantling of global health efforts may not just result in more lives lost to AIDS, but could also hasten the evolution of new, more deadly viruses.

No, I’m not talking about Donald Trump, but rather his wily South African analog, Jacob Zuma, whose tenure as president from 2009 to 2018 presented an existential threat to the continent’s most solid democracy.