The United States government has announced it will phase out approximately $400 million in annual funding for HIV and AIDS programmes in South Africa, home to the world's largest HIV-positive population of over eight million people. The money had been channelled through Pepfar (the President's Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief), which covered roughly a fifth of South Africa's total HIV spending. A US State Department official linked the decision to South Africa's alleged "failure to make demonstrable progress" on White House policy demands, which critics say are tied to the Trump administration's broader accusations — widely disputed — that South Africa discriminates against its white Afrikaner minority.