A linkage officer at a clinic serving the transgender community in South Africa said: “[W]hen we started now, again, when we talked to our patients, mostly would say, no, I didn’t go to [another] clinic. They just had to wait [for us to reopen] and they’d say, no, I didn’t go there. I didn’t want to go there.”
Date: 4/26
Region: Africa
Country: South Africa
Topic: Health, Gender Equality & Inclusion
Policy Lens: Global Health Security
Entry Type: Field Observation
Additional Context: This quote was collected in September 2025 by a global health expert associated with Physicians for Human Rights, or PHR, documenting the lived experiences of individuals impacted by the transitions in foreign aid, particularly U.S. government funding for HIV/AIDS services. All narrators were recontacted in March 2026 to validate quotes and provide updates.
This respondent, who remained anonymous, worked as a peer educator at a clinic serving the transgender community that closed as a result of the initial U.S. aid cuts. She describes how structural barriers meant that some of her clients opted to go without medication when their clinic closed due to the U.S. aid suspensions. Later, many patients resumed treatment when the organization obtained reduced funding to operate out of a government clinic.
Source: Physicians for Human Rights