The new anti-HIV drug will be delivered to Africa, bypassing South Africa, which is most at risk
Last week, the USA handed over 500 doses of the drug to Zambia and Eswatini. Now it has reached several more African countries. But this excludes South Africa – the country most affected by the epidemic, which has the largest population of people living with HIV in the world, estimated at approximately 8 million, which means that every fifth adult is affected.
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Why was South Africa left out of the distribution of the drug lenacapavir?
How many doses of the drug did the US provide to Zambia?
Who met with the president of Zambia?
How much money has the U.S. allocated for health services in Zambia?
The US supports Africa in the fight against HIV. South Africa omitted
US President Donald Trump's administration officials said South Africa has “significant resources” to finance this drug on its own and does not need US aid, as determined by the Washington Post.
This decision was taken at a time of very high tensions between Washington and Pretoria. Trump has repeatedly accused the South African country's government of genocide against its white minorityand a few days ago he announced that he would not take part in the G20 summit organized in Johannesburg, adding that South Africa should leave this body.
Zambia favored by Donald Trump
At the same time, the United States very clearly began to favor Zambia, another southern African country. At the time when the first doses of lenacapavir were delivered to Lusaka, Donald Trump Jr. made a private appearance there, quite by accident. The eldest son of the US president met with the president of Zambia, Hakaind Hichilema.
“We were pleased to meet Donald Trump Jr. during his private vacation in Zambia, where he experienced the beauty of our country. We conveyed our heartfelt greetings to his father, US President Donald Trump, and reaffirmed our commitment to strengthening US-Zambia relations,” Hichilema wrote in a post on X on Monday.
Relations were strengthened on the same day. On Monday, a high-level delegation of the US government arrived in Zambia to talk about… a new, multi-year agreement on the financing and implementation of health services. The United States has allocated $1.5 billion for this purpose spread over five years, as revealed by Zambian Health Minister Elijah Muchima.
In the evening of the same day, the President of Zambia posted another entry on X, in which he boasted that he had talked by phone with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
