A legacy bipartisan initiative to combat HIV and AIDS in Africa is collateral damage from President Trump’s directive to halt all U.S. foreign assistance, despite efforts to exempt humanitarian assistance and lifesaving medication from being caught up in the three-month funding freeze.

The US State Department has lifted the ban on HIV aid to SA and other low-income after President Donald Trump issued a directive to halt it in his first week.

Just eight days into his presidency, Donald Trump's executive orders are already impacting South Africa, particularly the crucial USAID programme that supports millions in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Resistant strains of the virus that may emerge in other nations would also be of great concern to Americans, an expert says.

Almost 136,000 babies are expected to be born with HIV in the next three months, mostly in Africa, because of the Trump administration’s “stop work order” on foreign assistance, according to a top research foundation.