How USAID freeze halted potential HIV vaccine tests in Africa— SABC

U.S. President Donald Trump’s order to freeze all foreign development assistance has stunted the efforts of a South African-led HIV vaccine development scheme, BRILLIANT, in producing a potential vaccine for the disease, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) reported.

In January, Trump announced a 90-day suspension of foreign aid. This disrupted humanitarian programs across countries, including South Africa and Nigeria.

The SABC reported that a South African lab technician, Nozipho Mlotshwa, was awaiting the test results for the potential vaccine when Trump ordered the USAID freeze.

Mlotshwa and her colleagues had produced a first round of the vaccine, which generated an immune response in rabbits.

The result was, however, inconclusive. So, the lab technician and her colleagues produced and sent off four new versions of the vaccine for pre-clinical tests.

The lab technician was optimistic about it yielding positive results.

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“This was very exciting. We were getting quite good results,” Mlotshwa, 32, told Reuters.

Another HIV vaccine candidate, which was about to be tested in Uganda, South Africa, and Kenya, is also in limbo following the USAID cut.

The HIV epidemic has been a burden in Africa for decades.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 25.6 million people live with HIV in Africa.

With over eight million people living with HIV, South Africa is regarded as the country with the highest population of people living with the virus.

Medical practitioners have worked tirelessly over the years to produce a vaccine for the virus. Still, the virus’s ability to mutate quickly has frustrated all efforts to develop a successful vaccine.