L-RBy Enyichukwu Enemanna
President Donald Trump’s administration will end funding for Zimbabwe’s health programmes at the end of this month, following the collapse of negotiations over a U.S.-proposed deal that Zimbabwe rejected in part over a requirement to share sensitive health data, the U.S. Embassy announced on Friday.
An embassy spokesperson in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital confirmed the decision and released remarks delivered this week by U.S. Ambassador Pamela Tremont at an event titled “Beyond assistance.”
Tremont said the end of U.S.-supported health programmes followed “Zimbabwe’s decision to decline a bilateral health MOU.” She added that the U.S. will now shift its relations with Zimbabwe “from one largely focused on health and humanitarian assistance, to one built on broader economic, trade and investment opportunities.”
Zimbabwe is among the first countries to face the consequences of Washington’s new approach to tie health aid to bilateral country-to-country agreements.
The withdrawal casts uncertainty over programmes to combat HIV and other diseases in a country where shortages often force patients to bring basic supplies such as bandages to clinics and buy their own medicines.
For decades, the U.S. has been Zimbabwe’s largest health donor, supporting HIV prevention and treatment, tuberculosis and malaria programmes, clinical care, laboratory systems, health workers, medical supplies and community-based programs.
Zimbabwean officials have raised concerns over diminishing international aid, saying the country would prioritize raising funds domestically as assistance from the U.S. and other Western countries decline.
Some health advocates, however, question whether Zimbabwe’s financially troubled government can absorb the costs.
The dispute dates to February, when both countries announced the collapse of talks on a bilateral deal proposed under Trump’s “America First” approach to foreign aid.
Zimbabwe government spokesperson Nick Mangwana said the proposal contained conditions the country could not accept, citing concerns over data sharing, fairness, sovereignty and Washington’s shift away from global health institutions.
At least four African countries — Ghana, Zambia, South Africa and Zimbabwe — have publicly resisted or failed to conclude new U.S. bilateral health agreements, while Kenya’s agreement has been challenged in court.
