Episode details

World Service,09 Feb 2026,23 mins
Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, South African health minister: The fight against HIV/AIDS continues.
The InterviewAvailable for over a year
“Even though we say we want to be self-sufficient, we don't think global solidarity must be dropped. Because if it gets dropped, the world will be in trouble.” Mayeni Jones the BBC’s Africa correspondent speaks to Dr Aaron Motsoaledi South Africa’s health minister a year on since the US announced foreign aid cuts. At the time he called the USAID freeze a wake up call for Africa. Dr Motsoaledi, has been at the centre of South Africa’s public health response for more than a decade. A medical doctor by training, he first took on the health portfolio in 2009, overseeing the world’s largest HIV treatment programme. In this conversation he explains how the country is filling the aid gap and where progress stands in the fight against HIV and AIDS. The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC, including episodes with Syria’s only female cabinet minister, Hind Kabawat, Ugandan human rights lawyer Nicholas Opiyo and Mexican actor, Diego Calva. You can listen on the BBC World Service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 0800 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out three times a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts. Presenter: Mayeni Jones Producers: Ed Habershon, Farhana Haider Editor: Justine Lang Get in touch with us on email TheInterview@bbc.co.uk and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media. (Image: Dr Aaron Motsoaledi Credit: PHILL MAGAKOE/AFP via Getty Images)
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