#HumanRightsMonth: NIH's potential funding cut threatens South African medical research

The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) is preparing to revoke grants for South African clinical studies, putting researchers' funding in jeopardy.

Source: Pexels.

This was the message of the chief executive officer of the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) who said the organisation had been alerted that, "the NIH is considering imminently terminating all grants to South Africa … many of us believe these are likely to be announced in the coming days," he said.

US grants make up 28% of the SAMRC’s funding, he noted.

On Sunday, the University of Cape Town (UCT) emailed the health faculty, cautioning that while official confirmation is still pending, “developments over the last two days indicate that the termination of US federal funding to South Africa appears to be imminent.” The email also noted that UCT has formed a task team to develop mitigation strategies in case US-funded research projects are discontinued.

In February, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) terminated most of its aid agreements, affecting recipients in South Africa and globally. Since then, numerous life-saving programmes have been forced to close.