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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Rachel Savage in Johannesburg

South Africa is at the heart of the HIV pandemic. What happens now the money has been cut?

Partial image of a women against Aids poster in South Africa.
A women against Aids poster in South Africa. In 2023, about 7.7m people in the country were living with HIV, according to UNAids, roughly 12% of the population. Photograph: F Stark/Alamy

Lebo is very afraid. She used to go to a clinic where sex workers such as her could get HIV medication without facing discrimination. But the dispensary, in Johannesburg’s run-down central Hillbrow district, shut down in January, when Donald Trump cut US funding to the global HIV response.

“I’m weak. I’m an old woman,” says the 62-year-old. “So please, we need help; we are suffering.” Lebo, who only wants her first name shared, is now spending 30% of her monthly income of 1,500 rand (£62) on antiretroviral (ARV) medication.

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