Last week it was announced that a dramatic cut in U.S. funding to South Africa’s HIV response will likely be reversed, so long as quality of services for people living with HIV is increased. The turnaround is a major victory for people living with HIV in the country, as critical resources will be restored.
The theme of this year’s World AIDS Day is “Communities make the difference”, an idea that underpins a new model of community-led clinic monitoring in South Africa — “Ritshidze” has been developed by people living with HIV and activists to hold both the South African government and international donors accountable to improve overall HIV and TB service delivery.