By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The University of the Witwatersrand’s Wits Health Consortium received a cancellation letters confirming the end of their US-government funded HIV and TB research grants.
The researches are run by chief investigators Helen Rees, the head of the Wits Reproductive Health Institute, and Ian Sanne, heading the Clinical HIV Research Unit, who now also works for the international development group, Palladium as its chief medical officer.
On Friday evening, the University of the Witwatersrand’s Wits Health Consortium, the unit through which the institution runs its clinical trials and donor-funded projects, received cancellation letters for all components of a grant of $2.5-million (about R460-million, which ends in November 2027. The grant was awarded through the NIH’s National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases.
Cancellation letters, sent on behalf of the chief grants management officer of USAID, Emily Linde, seem to be standard and tell researchers that “they do nothing to expand our knowledge of living systems, provide low returns on investment, and ultimately do not enhance health, lengthen life, or reduce illness” and accuse them of harming “the health of Americans”.
“Ironically, our grant ended on Human Rights Day. That day is there to help and protect the vulnerable. Now the US government is forcing us to do the opposite,” Sanne told Bhekisisa. “Trial volunteers will be put at risk if studies are stopped abruptly. Is this compliant with international standards of human ethics?”
The research, which has been running since 2007, fell under the Wits Research Group Clinical Trials Unit, and conducted HIV and TB prevention and treatment studies, as well as trials for hepatitis and HIV-related cancers.
Other grants that have, so far, reportedly been ended include research projects at the Centre for the Aids Programme of Research in South Africa, Caprisa, headed up by Salim and Quaraisha Abdool Karim.
Sanne says “it is inconceivable that [Elon Musk’s so-called] department of government efficiency [which is leading cuts on US government spending], does not understand that there is more than just DEI activities happening through HIV and other research”.
The email said: “Although NIH generally will suspend (rather than immediately terminate) a grant and allow the recipient an opportunity to take appropriate corrective action before NIH makes a termination decision, no corrective action is possible here.
The premise of this award is incompatible with agency priorities, and no modification of the project could align the project with agency priorities.
Sanne says he plans to make use of the appeal process and, if unsuccessful, at the very least negotiate a way to terminate trials ethically and responsibly.
“Our research saves lives and the NIH has helped us to do that,” he explains.
“What we now need to do is to convince them of the value of that rather than to terminate decades of investment that will result in the loss of lives.”
This is a developing story that will be updated as new information becomes available.