Mpumalanga: In August 2007 South Africa’s Mpumalanga Department of Health and Social Services (DOHSS) asked the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to support the implementation of a new drug warehouse. The aim includes supplying and installing equipment, helping to develop standard operating procedures, and training warehouse staff.

The Mpumalanga medical depot is responsible for supplying 31 hospitals and about 280 clinics with the Anti-Retroviral (ARV) medications necessary to treat people with HIV/AIDS. USAID, through funding from the Presidents Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR), was able to provide equipment to the warehouse that equated to $950,000. The array of gear provided ranged from safety equipment such as sprinkler systems, necessary items like forklifts and a conveyor belt system, and even minor items such as order assemble bins. USAID also contributed close to $105,000 in staff training at the warehouse. During October 2009, USAID through PEPFAR funding provided an emergency order of Anti-Retroviral medication (ARV) which was valued at $850,000. The Mpumalanga Department of Health uses these ARVs to help the 3.5 million people that make up the provincial population.

On May 26, 2010, U.S. Ambassador to South Africa, Donald Gips, announced that the U.S. Government would provide $120,000,000 to the Mpumalanga Department of Health. This amazing donation adds to the $25 billion that the American people have donated to combat global aids. It is recorded to be the largest amount a single country has donated towards the cause. USAID is one of the major implementing agencies for PEPFAR funding and is responsible for proper implementation of this endowment to the Mpumalanga medical depot. The $120,000,000 will meet the needs of the South African population for the next 18 to 24 months.

The Ambassador was given a warm welcome. Following the Ambassador’s speech, the heads of the drug depot took him and USAID’s senior staff, on a tour of the facility. The people on the tour were able to see the various items that the U.S. Government, with the help of USAID, was able to contribute to the ware house. At the end of the tour, the members of the Mpumalanga Department of Health gave Ambassador Gips a decorative hand-beaded Ndebele doll – which represents the local population - to show their immense gratitude for the contribution made by the U.S. Government.