The United States (US) National Institutes of Health (NIH) has lifted its ban on funding research projects in South Africa, according to a report by the journal, Science.

The journal quotes an internal NIH memo sent to staff on Wednesday by director Dr Jay Bhattacharya, which says the NIH is exempt from an executive order issued by President Donald Trump in February 2025 halting all “foreign aid or assistance” to South Africa.

NIH grants are different from ‘‘foreign aid or assistance” as they are intended to “foster global scientific exchange,” Bhattacharya wrote in the memo seen by Health Policy Watch. 

“Meritorious research projects located in South Africa are permitted to proceed subject to the principles set forth in the Director’s statement, NIH review processes, State Department review, and NIH policies on foreign award structures.”

He added that the US Congress has “explicitly authorised NIH to engage in international research collaborations”, and that the body’s “funding mechanisms” are not governed by the Foreign Assistance Act.

However, he specifies that all research should “have a clear scientific rationale” for why it is being conducted outside the US, and the “direct potential to generate knowledge applicable to understanding, improving or protecting the health of Americans”.

The US and South Africa have a long history of scientific collaboration, particularly on HIV and tuberculosis.

Trump order focuses on Afrikaners and Israel

Trump’s order claims that the South African government is guilty of two “egregious acts”. One is legislation to “enable the government of South Africa to seize ethnic minority Afrikaners’ agricultural property without compensation”. 

This is a distortion of a 2024 law that enables the government to expropriate land without compensation in exceptional circumstances after following due process. It does not specify ownership by any group, and includes unused municipal land.

The second “egregious act” is South Africa’s case of genocide against Israel in the International Court of Justice, which Trump claims undermines US foreign policy.

“All executive departments and agencies (agencies), including the United States Agency for International Development, shall, to the maximum extent allowed by law, halt foreign aid or assistance delivered or provided to South Africa, and shall promptly exercise all available authorities and discretion to halt such aid or assistance,” states the order.

However, it concedes: “The head of each agency may permit the provision of any such foreign aid or assistance that, in the discretion of the relevant agency head, is necessary or appropriate.”