… Zim Govt Ceased Negotiations Without Stating Why
BY NATHAN GUMA
THE US$367 million health aid agreement that the Zimbabwean government pulled out of over allegations of being lopsided did not contain provisions related to critical minerals and misuse of sensitive health data, new details have emerged.
Zimbabwe’s government rejected the deal by the United States of America that would have provided health funding over five years, supporting the country’s priority health programs, including HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, tuberculosis, malaria, maternal and child health, and disease outbreak preparedness.
A government spokesman has since said that the US was demanding access to biological samples for research and commercial gain, but said it was not willing to share the benefits for future vaccines and treatments.
There have also been concerns that the MoU had clauses that had conditions providing the United States access to critical minerals.
However, this week, a US official said the deal solely focused on health cooperation and did not have any provisions linked to critical minerals.
“The Government of Zimbabwe engaged with us at the technical level for weeks,
and our teams made much progress on negotiations of this legally non-binding
MOU,” according to a US official.
“You can see the many tracked changes in this document. No policy or political concerns were relayed to us. The government then notified us it was ceasing negotiations without stating why.
“The MOU focused solely on health cooperation and did not contain any provisions related to critical minerals, neither explicitly nor implicitly.”
Data sharing
According to the official, the MOU has always been about the health of the Zimbabwean people and gradually transitioning that responsibility to the Zimbabwean government.
“In line with standard global practices, it (the MoU) provides for the collection and analysis of only anonymous, aggregated health data that is essential for targeting assistance, measuring programme success, and ensuring timely, coordinated responses to disease outbreaks.
“In other words, the same kind of data we’ve been sharing since PEPFAR began in 2006,” said the official.
The visualisation below shows sample data that would have been shared by the Zimbabwean government with the US.
This data would also be useful in allocating resources where there is a need.
Impact of the pullout
This has resulted in the US winding down health funding in Zimbabwe.
According to a statement released by the US Embassy in Zimbabwe last month, the collaboration would have delivered extraordinary benefits for Zimbabwean communities, especially the 1.2 million men, women, and children currently receiving HIV treatment through U.S.-supported programs.
“We will now turn to the difficult and regrettable task of winding down our health assistance in Zimbabwe,” said US Ambassador Pamela in the statement by the Embassy produced last month.
The proposed MOU represented the largest potential health investment in Zimbabwe by any international funder and was built on a co-funding model designed to ensure sustainability and a path toward self-reliance.
The MOU asked Zimbabwe to gradually increase its own health funding alongside U.S. support, building on more than $1.9 billion in U.S. health support to Zimbabwe since 2006, which is directly responsible for Zimbabwe reaching the UNAIDS 95-95-95 goals.
Sixteen African countries have so far signed health collaboration MOUs with the United States, representing over $18.3 billion in new health funding, including more than $11.2 billion in U.S. assistance alongside $7.1 billion in co-investment from recipient countries.
Impact of US Health Funding in Zimbabwe
The impact of US funding in Zimbabwe, the largest bilateral aid contributor, has contributed to the overall upward trend in the country’s life expectancy, moving from roughly 58 years in 1995 to approximately 66 years in 2024.
This has included investments in improved public health and personal hygiene, better nutrition and medicine, and critical low-cost treatments such as vaccinations, nutritional supplements, and improved antenatal and postnatal care.
Improved medication has also led to a massive drop in HIV-related deaths among children and people living with HIV over the same period
Zimbabwe has also seen a sharp decrease in AIDS-related orphan numbers from over one million in the 2000s to about 400,000 in 2023, reflecting major progress against HIV.
The progress has mainly been supported by foreign funders, particularly PEPFAR and the Global Fund, among others.
