Rising anger over 'lop-sided' and 'immoral' US health funding pacts with African countries
Source: The Guardian
Rising anger over ‘lop-sided’ and ‘immoral’ US health funding pacts with African countries
Zimbabwe refuses to sign agreement and Kenya faces a court case over data sharing as new aid deals come under scrutiny
Kat Lay Global health correspondent
Fri 27 Feb 2026 07.00 GMT
Last modified on Fri 27 Feb 2026 07.02 GMT
A series of bilateral health agreements being negotiated between African countries and the administration of President Donald Trump have been labelled “clearly lop-sided” and “immoral” amid growing outrage at US demands, including countries being forced to share biological resources and data.
It emerged this week that Zimbabwe had halted negotiations with the US for $350m (£258m) of health funding, saying the proposals risked undermining its sovereignty and independence.
A letter sent by Albert Chimbindi, Zimbabwe’s secretary for foreign affairs and international trade, in December that was made public said the president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, “directed 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”.
Meanwhile, a deal with Zambia – which has been linked to a separate agreement with the US on “collaboration in the mining sector” – has yet to be finalised, with Asia Russell, director of the HIV advocacy organisation Health Gap, accusing the US of “conditioning life-saving health services on plundering the mineral wealth of the country. It’s shameless exploitation, which is immoral.”
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/feb/27/rising-anger-over-lop-sided-immoral-us-health-funding-pacts-africa-countries