OVER 80 000 HIV+ PATIENTS, AROUND 60 EMPLOYEES TO SUFFER

MBABANE – Following the reported closure of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) in Eswatini, around 80 000 emaSwati living with HIV are set to be affected.

This scenario is a blow to the country, which currently has over 210 000 people who are on antiretroviral therapy (ARVs).

The 80 000 who are taken care of, including being consistently monitored by the organisation include around 3 000 children in the Shiselweni and Hhohho regions.

As if that is not enough, this publication has uncovered that around 60 locals who were employed by the organisation are set to lose their jobs.

The EGPAF has been the highest beneficiary from USAID Eswatini.
This is because the entity in the past year received a larger share among the top partners of USAID Eswatini.
The entity was awarded E155 756 250 (US$8.307 million), when converted in yesterday’s exchange rate.
It was followed by Pact World, which received E127 818 750 and the third highest benefitting entity was The Luke Commission (TLC) with E125.44 million. 

The organisation is among many others that have been affected following a decision by US President Donald Trump’s administration’s to terminate 90 per cent of USAID’s foreign aid contracts.
Health groups, non-governmental organisations and others who received money from the US aid agency to do good work had been living under a cloud of curiosity since Trump’s executive order froze the funding for a 90-day review on January 20, 2025.

treatment services

According to its profile, the EGPAF began supporting the Kingdom of Eswatini in 2003 to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission and to provide HIV and AIDS care and treatment services.
EGPAF-Eswatini’s work ensures every client has access to comprehensive healthcare, high-quality counselling, linkage to effective treatment for HIV and opportunistic infections and psychosocial support within a variety of health settings throughout the country.

EGPAF-Eswatini provides support to improve local infrastructure and health systems through training, mentorship and procurement of essential HIV drugs and commodities.
The organisation also works to increase community engagement and access to prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT), early infant HIV diagnosis and voluntary medical male circumcision services.

comprehensive support

Currently, EGPAF-Eswatini has been providing comprehensive support to ensure these services are offered in 65 sites in the Hhohho and Shiselweni regions.
Some of projects the EGPAF has been involved in include the Ready, Resourceful, Risk-Aware ‘Insika’ Project (2018-2023).

Locally named Insika ya Kusasa, which means ‘the pillar of tomorrow, this is a USAID-funded project implemented by Pact, with assistance from EGPAF.

Through this project, Pact and EGPAF committed to support USAID and the Kingdom of Eswatini in accelerating progress towards the 95-95-95 targets and in achieving sustainable HIV epidemic control.
The goal of Insika is to prevent new HIV infections and bolster support and opportunities among orphaned and vulnerable children (OVCs) and adolescent girls and young women (AGYW).

economic resilience

The website states that Insika aims to increase social and economic resilience to overcome the impact of HIV among OVCs and AGYW and to increase service uptake of high-quality HIV, sexual and reproductive health, family planning and gender-based violence care and treatment services among OVCs and AGYW.
As reported by our sister publication, the Times of Eswatini and other media outlets on Friday, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have been dealt a blow as foreign aid through USAID has been reportedly terminated.

It was reported that following a recent period of relief after the restoration of foreign aid through the United States under its Agency for International Development (USAID), Eswatini, alongside several other countries, has begun receiving notices of funding termination.

A termination notice, which has circulated widely on social media, reportedly issued to some organisations, states that the award is being terminated ‘for convenience and in the interests of the US Government’.
The notice cites a directive from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Peter W. Marocco, the acting Deputy Administrator for USAID, stating that the award is not aligned with agency priorities and that continuing the programme is not in the national interest.

The notice directs recipients to cease all activities immediately, terminate sub-awards and contracts, and avoid incurring additional costs associated with the termination.

This development follows a period of uncertainty, as Eswatini had recently breathed a sigh of relief after the US approved an ‘Emergency Humanitarian Waiver’ under USAID, offering a temporary pause on foreign assistance funding to evaluate its alignment with US foreign policy.

This termination raises concerns about the continuity of essential HIV services, particularly for the over 215 000 people living with HIV in the country.

Meanwhile, 215 000 people living with HIV/AIDS, which is 27 per cent of the adult population (people), have their health under threat.

This happens at a time when Eswatini, which has a population of over 215 000 people enrolled in antiretroviral therapy (ART), received about E831.15 million (US$44.42 million) on HIV/AIDS assistance.
The aid dedicated to HIV/AIDS is a larger share of the E 935.55 million (US$50.05 million) support from the USAID, which was allocated to Eswatini in 2024.

analysing data

The funds from these agencies are crucial for purchasing antiretroviral drugs, condoms, pre-exposure prophylaxis and for enhancing systems for collecting and analysing data on epidemiology, including interactions between diseases such as HIV/AIDS, diabetes and hypertension.

The funding dedicated to addressing HIV/AIDS is said to have since been terminated.
The termination of the funding has come at a time when entities like The Luke Commission (TLC) and emaSwati relying on the health facility were facing challenges due to a lack of resources.

TLC last month announced that it would be suspending several outpatient services for patients aged 50 and older, as well as most inpatient services.
One of the reasons for halting the services is the depletion of E30 million in relief funds availed by government, which has since extended another E20 million which, however, is far from addressing the challenges faced by the institution.  

TLC, according to the USAID website, last year received funding to the tune of about E125.44 million (US$6.69 million), when converted to yesterday’s exchange rate of US$1 being equivalent to E18.72. This is against the backdrop of overwhelming demand, which has consistently surpassed the available resources.

special media case

Muzi Yende, the Communications, Advocacy and Outreach Manager, declined to comment on the matter, wondering why Elizabeth Glaser is being made a special media case yet there are also other affected organisations.

Elizabeth Glaser (née Meyer; November 11, 1947 – December 13, 2004) was an American AIDS activist and child advocate married to actor and director Paul Michael Glaser. She contracted HIV very early in the AIDS epidemic after receiving an HIV-contaminated blood transfusion in 1981 while giving birth.
Like other HIV-infected mothers, Glaser unknowingly passed the virus to her infant daughter, Ariel, who died in 1988.

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