Zambia is set to sign a five-year health funding agreement worth 1.5 billion Dollars with the United States on Thursday, following the resolution of concerns over medical data-sharing.
The Health Minister Elijah Muchima said on Tuesday that the agreement would see the U.S. provide 1.5 billion dollars in health funding over five years, while Zambia would contribute 2.1 billion dollars towards its health programmes.
Negotiations had stalled over Zambia’s concerns about data privacy and reports that the United States wanted the health funding linked to access to critical minerals.
The Minister said “data-sharing under the agreement would be limited to information required to monitor and evaluate U.S.-funded health programmes.”
Muchima said a clause requiring Zambia to provide patient medical specimens to the United States upon request had been removed from the agreement.
On concerns that the health funding was linked to access to critical minerals, Muchima said “there was no reference to critical minerals in the health agreement.”
He added that he was not aware of any separate critical minerals agreement being negotiated between Zambia and the United States.
The United States is a major funder of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other public health programmes in Zambia, a major copper-producing country in Southern Africa.
Several African countries have raised concerns over U.S. demands for broad access to medical data as a condition for receiving health assistance.
Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda have signed similar health agreements with the United States, under a new U.S. approach to foreign aid aimed at helping recipient countries move from dependence on aid towards self-reliance.
Ghana and Zimbabwe, however, rejected similar agreements over concerns about data-sharing requirements.
Reuters
