US Cuts Health Aid to Zimbabwe After Data Sharing Dispute Ends Talks

The United States will terminate health assistance to Zimbabwe following failed negotiations over a proposed $367 million funding agreement. Zimbabwe rejected the deal citing concerns about sharing sensitive health data without guarantees of access to resulting medical innovations.

HARARE, Zimbabwe — America will terminate its health assistance program to Zimbabwe following the breakdown of negotiations over a proposed funding agreement that Zimbabwe declined due to requirements for sharing confidential health information.

The termination leaves Zimbabwe without its largest health funding partner, creating uncertainty for HIV treatment programs and public health services in a nation where medical facilities often lack basic supplies and patients frequently purchase their own medications due to shortages.

Zimbabwe’s leadership stated the funding proposal included unacceptable conditions. Government spokesperson Nick Mangwana explained Wednesday that the decision stemmed from worries about data sharing requirements, fairness issues, national sovereignty, and America’s broader retreat from global health organizations.

According to Mangwana, the American proposal demanded “comprehensive access to Zimbabwe’s sensitive health data, including virus samples and epidemiological information from our citizens.”

Mangwana reported that President Emmerson Mnangagwa ordered the talks ended because America failed to provide “a corresponding guarantee of access to any medical innovations — such as vaccines, diagnostics, or treatments — that might result from that shared data.”

“The United States was not offering reciprocal sharing of its own epidemiological data with our health authorities,” Mangwana stated. “In essence, our nation would provide the raw materials for scientific discovery without any assurance that the end products would be accessible to our people should a future health crisis emerge.”

America had proposed $367 million across five years to fund Zimbabwe’s key health initiatives, covering HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, tuberculosis, malaria, maternal and child health services, and disease outbreak readiness, according to the American embassy in Zimbabwe.

The arrangement would have marked the most significant potential health investment in Zimbabwe from any international ally, delivering “extraordinary benefits for Zimbabwean communities — especially the 1.2 million men, women, and children currently receiving HIV treatment through U.S.-supported programs,” stated U.S. ambassador Pamela Tremont on Tuesday.

“We will now turn to the difficult and regrettable task of winding down our health assistance in Zimbabwe,” Tremont declared, noting that Zimbabwe indicated readiness to manage its HIV response without external support. “We wish them well,” Tremont added.

America has served as Zimbabwe’s primary bilateral health funding source for years, contributing almost $2 billion in aid since 2006. The U.S. claims it “is directly responsible” for Zimbabwe’s achievement of United Nations HIV treatment, testing and viral suppression goals.

Zimbabwe recently began distributing lenacapavir, an innovative HIV prevention medication given twice yearly. The distribution received backing from the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, working with the Global Fund, creating questions about future program deliveries.

Zimbabwe’s College of Public Health Physicians has called for renewed discussions, emphasizing the necessity of continued American funding for “critical components” of Zimbabwe’s public health infrastructure.

“An abrupt discontinuation of such support could risk treatment interruption, increased transmission, the emergence of drug resistance, and additional strain on the health system,” the organization stated.

Zimbabwe, similar to other low-income nations, has struggled with reduced aid under President Donald Trump’s policies, though some programs persisted through PEPFAR. America also departed from the World Health Organization in January, reflecting a broader restructuring of global health involvement.

Under the current American approach, the Trump administration has pursued direct “America First” health funding agreements, replacing arrangements previously managed through the now-dissolved U.S. Agency for International Development.

The American embassy in Zimbabwe reported agreements exceeding $18 billion signed with 16 African nations, though recipient countries would provide approximately $7.1 billion of this total as part of America’s push for nations to increase their own health sector investments.

Multiple countries have already joined the new agreements. Nigeria secured a deal emphasizing Christian-based medical facilities. Rwanda and Uganda have also signed contracts, while some agreements, including those with Rwanda and Côte d’Ivoire, feature provisions for private American sector investment.

In Kenya, an agreement signed in December faces delays after the High Court halted implementation pending a lawsuit filed by a consumer rights organization regarding data security concerns.

Zimbabwean officials condemned the bilateral approach as “a departure from the multilateral frameworks” and argued that virus data with pandemic potential should be shared only through the WHO system.

“This system is designed to ensure that when a country contributes its data, the benefits — including vaccines and treatments — are shared equitably, not commercialized exclusively by those with the resources to develop them,” Mangwana explained.