{"id":6337,"date":"2026-02-27T09:06:32","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T09:06:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=6337"},"modified":"2026-02-27T09:06:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T09:06:32","slug":"rising-anger-over-lop-sided-and-immoral-us-health-funding-pacts-with-african-countries-global-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=6337","title":{"rendered":"Rising anger over \u2018lop-sided\u2019 and \u2018immoral\u2019 US health funding pacts with African countries | Global development"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

A series of bilateral health agreements being negotiated between African countries and the administration of President Donald Trump have been labelled \u201cclearly lop-sided\u201d and \u201cimmoral\u201d amid growing outrage at US demands, including countries being forced to share biological resources and data.<\/p>\n

It emerged this week that Zimbabwe<\/a> had halted negotiations with the US for $350m (\u00a3258m) of health funding, saying the proposals risked undermining its sovereignty and independence.<\/p>\n

A letter sent by Albert Chimbindi, Zimbabwe\u2019s secretary for foreign affairs and international trade, in December that was made public<\/a> said the president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, \u201cdirected that Zimbabwe must discontinue any negotiation, with the USA, on the clearly lop-sided MoU [memorandum of understanding] that blatantly compromises and undermines the sovereignty and independence of Zimbabwe as a country\u201d.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a deal with Zambia<\/a> \u2013 which has been linked to a separate agreement with the US on \u201ccollaboration in the mining sector\u201d \u2013 has yet to be finalised, with Asia Russell, director of the HIV advocacy organisation <\/strong>Health Gap, accusing the US<\/a> of \u201cconditioning life-saving health services on plundering the mineral wealth of the country. It\u2019s shameless exploitation, which is immoral.\u201d<\/p>\n

At least 17 African countries<\/a> have signed deals with the US, collectively securing $11.3bn in health aid but raising concerns over concessions made in return.<\/p>\n

Critics say there has been a lack of consultation with the community groups that provide a lot of the healthcare in African countries, and have raised concerns over data privacy \u2013 the US requests patient record data as part of the deals \u2013 and the prioritisation of faith-based healthcare providers.<\/p>\n

In Nigeria, US statements suggest the funding is contingent on authorities tackling what the Trump administration refers to as the persecution of Christians<\/a> in the country.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration is negotiating the bilateral agreements<\/a> with countries as part of its America First global health strategy. The new approach follows the US dismantling what had been the flagship aid body, USAID, and pulling back from large multilateral bodies such as the World Health Organization.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>A 10-year-old girl is given the HPV vaccine at Budiriro polyclinic in Harare, Zimbabwe.<\/span> Photograph: Aaron Ufumeli\/AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The rapid push for deals is being seen as part of US manoeuvres<\/a> to establish and entrench power on the continent. The deals also commit African nations to rely on US regulatory approval of new drugs and technologies before rolling them out.<\/p>\n

The US-Rwanda deal<\/a> is explicit that it will bring increased US private sector involvement in the country\u2019s health sector.<\/p>\n

A Zimbabwean government spokesperson said<\/a> on Wednesday that the US had asked for \u201csensitive health data, including pathogen samples\u201d, but without any corresponding guarantee of access to any resulting medical innovations.<\/p>\n

\u201cZimbabwe was being asked to share its biological resources and data over an extended period, with no corresponding guarantee of access to any medical innovations \u2013 such as vaccines, diagnostics or treatments \u2013 that might result from that shared data,\u201d he said. \u201cIn essence, our nation would provide the raw materials for scientific discovery without any assurance that the end products would be accessible to our people should a future health crisis emerge.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said Zimbabwe was also afraid bilateral agreements would undermine WHO systems designed to ensure fairness in any future pandemic response.<\/p>\n

\u201cDevelopment aid should empower nations, not create dependencies or serve as a vehicle for strategic extraction,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen financial assistance is contingent upon concessions that touch upon national security, data sovereignty, or access to strategic resources, it fundamentally alters the nature of the relationship from one of partnership to one of unequal exchange.\u201d<\/p>\n

The US ambassador to Zimbabwe, Pamela Tremont, said on X<\/a> she regretted the country\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe this collaboration would have delivered extraordinary benefits for Zimbabwean communities \u2013 especially the 1.2 million men, women and children currently receiving HIV treatment through US-supported programmes,\u201d she said. \u201cWe will now turn to the difficult and regrettable task of winding down our health assistance in Zimbabwe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most of the new US-African deals are not publicly available, although the Guardian has seen a draft template<\/a>, and a handful of documents that appear to be final agreements are in circulation.<\/p>\n

The five-year deals commit African countries to gradually provide a greater amount of domestic funding, including for health-worker salaries and equipment \u2013 replacing US investment which will decrease each year<\/a>. If countries fail to meet those commitments, US funding may be withdrawn.<\/p>\n

US drafts also include requests for access to health data and information on new or emerging pathogens for up to 25 years, although many countries appear to have negotiated shorter commitments.<\/p>\n

In Kenya, the first country to sign a deal, a court case brought by campaigners over data sharing terms has put the agreement on hold. The Consumer Federation of Kenya (Cofek), one of the groups bringing the case, said Kenya risked \u201cceding strategic control<\/a> of its health systems if pharmaceuticals for emerging diseases and digital infrastructure (including cloud-storage of raw data) are externally controlled\u201d.<\/p>\n

Uganda\u2019s attorney general, Kiryowa Kiwanuka, sought to downplay similar fears about his country\u2019s deal in an interview hosted on X<\/a>, saying it was \u201cnot true\u201d that citizens\u2019 health data and privacy was at risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have our data protection and privacy law, and the agreement is riddled with that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>A headline reflects Donald Trump\u2019s comments on the persecution of Christians in Nigeria.<\/span> Photograph: Sunday Alamba\/AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One reproductive and gender justice campaigner in Uganda questioned whether the increased domestic funding targets were realistic, given African governments\u2019 failure to meet the 2001 Abuja declaration\u2019s 15% minimum<\/a> national budget allocation to health.<\/p>\n

She said there had been \u201cno public participation\u201d in the negotiation process, and non-governmental organisations were expected to be further sidelined. Specialist clinics offering care to marginalised groups such as the LGBTQ+ community were unlikely to see funding \u201ctrickle down\u201d to them, she said.<\/p>\n

In Nigeria, according to a US embassy statement<\/a>, the agreement for $2.1bn of US funding \u201cplaces a strong emphasis on Christian faith-based healthcare providers\u201d.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

Fadekemi Akinfaderin of F\u00f2s Feminista wrote on Substack<\/a> that \u201csingling out one religious group in a deeply plural country risks inflaming existing tensions and politicising health\u201d. She also warned that \u201cfaith-based facilities are less likely to provide family planning services, STI prevention and some vaccinations, due to ideological beliefs\u201d, urging Nigeria\u2019s health ministry to ensure coverage gaps did not result from the agreement.<\/p>\n

Rachel Bonnifield, director of global health policy and senior fellow at the Center for Global Development thinktank, said that despite the criticisms there were good reasons for countries to sign deals including \u201cvery substantial amounts of funding \u2013 in some cases equivalent to 50% or more of governments\u2019 total domestic spending on health \u2013 to support very basic and much needed health services\u201d.<\/p>\n

A shift to government control of health funds, rather than distribution through US NGOs, was also likely to be attractive, she said, with the deals seen as a chance to establish new, broader relationships with the US.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven transactional negotiations can be seen as treating African governments like peers and partners versus the recipients of American charity,\u201d said Bonnifield.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A series of bilateral health agreements being negotiated between African countries and the administration of President Donald Trump have been labelled \u201cclearly lop-sided\u201d and \u201cimmoral\u201d amid…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6338,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}