A clinic in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, which provides essential healthcare services to the transgender community, is one of the many centres impacted by the United States' decision to freeze funding to several of its international beneficiaries.
The Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute’s transgender health programme, previously supported by USAID, has been forced to close some of its services, effective Tuesday, January 28, 2025. This comes after a "stop order communication" was issued regarding certain USAID-funded programmes, as confirmed by Wits University's Professor Shabir Madhi.
According to Madhi, the communication ordered an immediate cessation of all activities related to the programme, leaving patients and staff members facing uncertainty.
A transgender woman who visited the Hillbrow clinic on Tuesday afternoon shared her experience of receiving an SMS notifying her to collect her hormone script before 4pm, as the clinic would no longer be able to provide services. While she expressed that she could collect her script at a private institution, she noted the added financial burden of having to pay for the service herself.
The SMS sent to patients read in part: "Our donor, USAID, has served the Wits RHI key population programme a notice to pause programme implementation. As of close of business tomorrow [Tuesday] 28 January, we are unable to provide services until further notice."
An employee from the clinic revealed that approximately 1,800 patients and 24 staff members are now affected by the closure. Healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses, and data capturers integrated into the programme, are left in a state of confusion about their future salaries and job security.
Dr. Angelique Coetzee, a healthcare expert, voiced her concern, stating that South Africa needs to reduce its reliance on foreign aid to ensure sustainable healthcare. “People should be worried. There is an impact on patient care and livelihoods. Doctors, nurses, and data capturers that are integrated into our clinics and hospitals will now be stranded and will not know where to get their salaries going forward,” Dr. Coetzee said.
The South African Department of Health has yet to issue a formal response. Spokesperson Foster Mohale noted that they had not received official communication from USAID, but would provide further details once the department is formally notified.
The freeze in funding underscores the vulnerability of critical healthcare services in South Africa, particularly for marginalized communities, and raises questions about the long-term sustainability of such programs without foreign support.
