Zambia has signed a five‑year health‑financing agreement with the United States, ending months of public dispute over whether the country was trading citizens’ medical data and mineral rights for aid.
The memorandum of understanding, signed in Lusaka on Thursday alongside a data‑sharing deal, sees the US provide about $1.5 bn (£1.1 bn), with Zambia also contributing a share.
Civil‑society groups had criticized a leaked draft that allegedly allowed far‑reaching data sharing, while activists seized on reports linking health money to preferential access for US companies to Zambia’s copper and other critical mineral reserves. The US ambassador denied such ties.
Officials say the revised text addresses privacy, intellectual‑property and benefit‑sharing concerns. Health Minister Roma Chilengi said clauses requiring Zambia to send biological specimens to the US were removed, and that individual patient records would not be shared. Data exchange will be limited to information needed to monitor and evaluate programmes funded under the deal.
The deal replaces support that for years flowed largely through US programmes. The money will support HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, maternal and child health, disease surveillance and wider health system work, including the recruitment of community health workers.
The US has described the arrangement as a shift from a donor‑recipient model towards shared responsibility, with US funding expected to decline over the five years as Zambia increases domestic spending. The combined package covering 2026 to 2030 is estimated at roughly $3.6 bn, though figures for the Zambian share have varied.
