Kenya has signed a historic five-year health agreement with the US, the first such pact since Donald Trump’s administration overhauled its foreign aid programme.
The $2.5bn (£1.9bn) deal is aimed at combating infectious diseases in Kenya, with similar agreements expected to be rolled out in other African countries aligned with Trump’s broad foreign policy goals.
The government-to-government deal aims to boost transparency and accountability but has raised fears that it could give US real-time access to critical health databases, including sensitive patient information.
Kenya’s Health Minister, Aden Duale sought to allay such fears, saying “only de-identified, aggregated data” would be shared.
On his first day in office in January, Trump announced a freeze on foreign aid as part of a government spending review, dismantled the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and cut billions in aid to poorer countries.
This has led to a drastic reduction in the availability of some drugs in developing countries.
In September, the Trump administration introduced an “America First Global Health Strategy,” making aid dependent on negotiations that officials said would cut waste and advance US priorities.
The deal targets the prevention and treatment of HIV/Aids, malaria, tuberculosis, maternal care, polio eradication, and infectious disease outbreak response and preparedness.
Signing the agreement with Kenya’s President, William Ruto, US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio described it as a “landmark agreements” and referred to Kenya as a “longstanding American ally.”
He praised Kenya for its role in leading and contributing to the UN-backed mission working to combat powerful gangs in Haiti.
“If we had five or 10 countries willing to step forward and do just half of what Kenya has done already, it would be an extraordinary achievement,” said Rubio.
The secretary of state explained that the US wanted its foreign aid to go directly to governments rather than through aid agencies and charities.
BBC/Shakirat Sadiq