South Africa’s HIV & TB hotline closes due to funding loss
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For 18 years, the South African National HIV & TB Healthcare Worker Hotline provided free clinical support to doctors, nurses, and pharmacists across the country, but it has now suspended operations due to a lack of funding.
The University of Cape Town’s Medicines Information Centre ran the hotline, answering over 86,000 queries with evidence-based advice.
Annoesjka Swart, the centre’s manager, explained that the service received no funding after April 2025 and, despite applying for a new tender in April 2026, has not received notification of its success. The closure is especially concerning in South Africa, which has a high incidence of both HIV and tuberculosis. These two diseases often occur together, creating a significant public health challenge.
The hotline proved invaluable in supporting the country’s HIV treatment program, particularly the NIMART initiative which allowed specially trained nurses to prescribe antiretroviral medications. Healthcare workers expressed worry about the loss of this resource. Clinicians relied on the hotline for guidance on complex cases, ensuring patients received appropriate treatment. The service also created practical resources like posters and an app with over 6,000 active users, and ran training sessions for nurses, pharmacists, and community health workers.
Swart says the team is actively seeking new funding to restore the service.
