Civil society demands probe into HIV, TB funds diversion
· Citizen
Civil society has raised concerns over allegations that money earmarked for HIV/Aids and tuberculosis (TB) programmes is diverted to other health care spending, warning any reprioritisation could have serious consequences for those already facing gaps in services.
Health expert and Positive Women Network member Lindiwe Mahlangu said allegations that funding intended for critical programmes, including HIV, TB, sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention and child nutrition, was redirected should be properly investigated.
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Allegations of funds diverted must be investigated – health expert
News24 recently reported the national department of health has escalated allegations of money for critical health care programmes, including the National Health Insurance (NHI), HIV/Aids, TB and child nutrition, being diverted to health marketing and communication contracts.
Mahlangu said the claims had not been proven but civil society had a responsibility to demand transparency and accountability.
“As a person working in civil society and someone who has been involved in community-led monitoring, I am deeply concerned about any allegation money meant for critical programmes such as HIV, TB, STI prevention and child nutrition is being redirected to other purposes.
“There must be a proper investigation, transparency and accountability.
“But, as civil society, we have a responsibility to ask if money was allocated for HIV and TB programmes, where did that money go, and what impact did any diversion or reprioritisation have on services reaching communities?”
Mahlangu said her experience in communities had shown the impact of funding disruptions, particularly after the withdrawal of the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar) funding.
Gaps seen after Pepfar funding withdrawal
“Before the funding cuts, implementing partners had staff supporting public health facilities and communities.
“Those staff were helping with HIV testing, treatment literacy, patient tracing, adherence support, data management, TB screening and community mobilisation,” she said.
“After the funding disruption, we started seeing gaps. Clinics have fewer staff, health workers are under pressure and some of the support that communities previously received from implementing partners has disappeared or been reduced.”
She said communities had also raised concerns about inadequate screening capacity and shortages of basic infection-prevention resources such as masks.
Mahlangu said inadequate funding could affect the entire HIV and TB cascade, saying patients could be diagnosed late, treatment interrupted and prevention opportunities missed.
“The withdrawal of US funding has already created a major challenge for SA’s HIV and TB response. The department itself acknowledged the need to mobilise additional domestic resources after the Pepfar withdrawal, and Treasury subsequently provided additional funding for HIV service delivery,” she said.
Poor planning that could affect service delivery
African People’s Convention leader and former standing committee on public accounts chair Themba Godi said diverting funds after budgets had been approved showed poor planning and could affect service delivery.
“When the budget was approved, there were categories of items approved for execution. And when execution times and the money is diverted to other things, it shows poor planning and will, in the long term, have an impact on service delivery,” he said.
Godi added the matter was more serious because it involved HIV, TB and the NHI, which he said were priorities for SA.
He called for officials involved to be identified and investigated, as well as scrutiny of companies that received the contracts.
Outa CEO Wayne Duvenage said: “This is outrageous and is a common agenda to corruptly divert state funds to connected networks.
“We see this often in government departments, where advertising, communications and PR expenses become excessive, where it’s easy to justify services provided, but which are often overinflated and not easy to measure the impact or return on the expenditure.”
Matter referred to SIU
Health portfolio committee chair Faith Muthambi said the allegations raised concerns about the management and use of public resources for health care.
“The committee will continue to exercise its oversight responsibilities to promote accountability and transparency, and to protect resources allocated to critical health care,” she said.
Health department spokesperson Foster Mohale said the matter was being referred to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), auditor-general and public protector.
“We would like to allow them space, instead of running commentary,” said Mohale.
The SIU confirmed receipt of a referral from the health department yesterday, regarding claims of irregularities related to NHI spending.
But spokesperson Selby Makgotho said the unit had not yet received a formal referral from the department.