By John Musenze

 

KAMPALA, UGANDA, 03 Feb. - (ANA) - A new wave of bilateral health deals with the United States is facing growing resistance across Africa, as courts, civil society groups and public-health experts question how the deals reconfigure control over health data, pathogen samples and national priorities.

 

Fourteen African countries have signed agreements with Washington under the United States’ America First Global Health approach, according to the US State Department.

 

The countries were named as Uganda, with a deal worth US$2.3 billion, Kenya ($2.5 billion), Rwanda ($228 million), Nigeria ($5.1 billion), Eswatini ($242 million), Ethiopia $1.466billion), Mozambique ($1.8 billion), Ivory Coast ($937 million), Cameroon ($850 million), Lesotho ($364 million), Madagascar ($175 million), Sierra Leone ($173 million), Liberia ($176 million) and Botswana ($486 million).

 

The agreements combine US funding with domestic government financing, requiring African states to increase health spending, report outbreaks rapidly and expand disease surveillance, while tying continued support to timelines and performance benchmarks.

 

The US government says funding will support the scale-up of partner governments’ health data systems to track data on HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria, polio, and infectious disease outbreaks.

 

However, African critics say the model raises governance concerns about who sets priorities, who holds authority, and who ultimately benefits.   - (ANA) -

 

For more details, visit: https://www.scidev.net/global/news/africa-pushes-back-on-us-health-deals-over-data-power/

 

 

AB/ANA/03 February 2026 - - -