Lesotho HIV programmes face collapse after US cuts – NGOs

Maseru – Life-saving HIV programmes in Lesotho are at risk of collapse following the loss of US foreign aid, more than 30 NGOs warned at a press conference in the capital Maseru on Tuesday.

The “sudden halt or pause in funding” announced by US President Donald Trump at the end of January has already “negatively affected” HIV and tuberculosis (TB) services, a statement issued at the press conference said.

Lesotho, a small mountainous kingdom surrounded by South Africa, has among the highest HIV prevalence in the world.

About one in four adults – in a population of 2.3 million people – are HIV positive, according to the national Ministry of Health.

More than 230,000 people were receiving anti-retroviral treatment in 2021, the World Health Organization says.

The country also has the second-highest incidence of TB in the world, estimated at 724 cases per 100,000 people.

Since 2016, the US government has invested $860 million in Lesotho’s HIV response through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the statement said.

While Washington backtracked on its 90-day suspension of foreign aid by announcing waivers for PEPFAR-financed clinics and lifesaving treatments, many programmes have remained disrupted.

Lesotho’s Health Minister Selibe Mochoboroane recently indicated that 1,500 workers in the country’s already fragile health system had been put on indefinite leave as a direct consequence of the funding freeze.

“It’s a disaster – worse than Covid-19,” said Innocent Dube, who heads a nonprofit called Bacha Re Bacha Youth Forum, advocating for youth access to health services.

Along with other nonprofits, he urged the Lesotho government to bridge the funding gap, ahead of the announcement of the national 2025/26 budget, planned on Wednesday.

“So many people are relying on HIV treatment now. If nothing happens, if the budget speech… doesn’t put that as a priority, we are headed for another disaster,” Dube said.