Daijiworld Media Network - Johannesburg

Johannesburg, Jul 13: Just a week before clinical trials were set to begin, South African scientists working on a promising HIV vaccine were told to halt all work, as the Trump administration abruptly withdrew $46 million in US funding. The BRILLIANT program, central to the fight against HIV in the world’s hardest-hit region, now stands at risk of collapse.

The funding cut is part of a broader rollback of US foreign aid under the former President’s "America First" policy, which has especially impacted South Africa — previously receiving about $400 million annually through USAID and the HIV-specific PEPFAR initiative.

Glenda Gray, head of the BRILLIANT programme, warned that the move threatens not just jobs and research, but global progress. “Without South Africa in these programmes, the world is much poorer,” she said, noting the country’s key role in clinical trials for HIV prevention drugs and COVID-19 vaccines.

Now, hundreds of researchers have been laid off, crucial equipment purchases frozen, and ongoing work at universities like the University of the Witwatersrand disrupted. Youth unemployment, already at 46%, could rise further as lab technicians like Nozipho Mlotshwa face an uncertain future.

The South African government estimates a $107 million loss in US research aid over the next five years, affecting work on both HIV and tuberculosis. With 8,000 health workers and thousands of field data collectors already let go, HIV care and prevention programs are faltering in rural communities.

UNAIDS chief Winnie Byanyima acknowledged that while African nations like Nigeria and Zambia are increasing domestic support, “it won’t match the scale of American funding.”

As the BRILLIANT program scrambles for alternative financing, experts fear a sharp rise in HIV infections and the erosion of years of hard-won progress.