Zimbabwe has rejected a proposed US-backed health funding agreement worth $367 million over five years, citing concerns over sovereignty and access to sensitive national health data.
The decision came to light after a leaked government memo from December revealed that President Emmerson Mnangagwa considered the deal “lopsided” and directed that negotiations be discontinued. The directive was reportedly conveyed in a December 23 letter from Ambassador A.R. Chimbindi, Secretary for Foreign Affairs and International Trade, to senior finance and health officials.
According to government spokesperson Nick Mangwana, the United States was seeking long-term access to Zimbabwe’s biological samples and population-level health data for research and potential commercial gain, without offering guarantees that resulting vaccines, diagnostics or treatments would be made accessible to Zimbabweans.
“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,” Mangwana said, describing the arrangement as asymmetrical.
The US ambassador to Zimbabwe, Pamela Tremont, said in a statement that Washington would now begin “the difficult and regrettable task of winding down our health assistance in Zimbabwe.” The US embassy noted that more than $1.9 billion in health funding has been provided to Zimbabwe over the past two decades.
According to the embassy, the proposed funding would have supported HIV/Aids treatment and prevention, tuberculosis, malaria, maternal and child health services, and disease outbreak preparedness. Tremont said the collaboration would have benefited the 1.2 million Zimbabweans currently receiving HIV treatment through US-supported programmes.
Harare also objected to what officials described as attempts to link the health agreement to Zimbabwe’s critical minerals sector, arguing that such provisions could give Washington undue strategic leverage over unrelated areas of national interest.
The government further maintained that entering into a bilateral health pact outside multilateral structures would undermine established global health systems. Officials cited the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing scheme under the World Health Organization as an example of a framework designed to ensure equitable sharing of benefits when countries contribute health data.
Mangwana stressed that the rejection should not be interpreted as anti-American sentiment, adding that Zimbabwe remains open to dialogue provided future cooperation respects the sovereignty and dignity of both nations.
The Zimbabwe College of Public Health Physicians acknowledged the government’s concerns but called for continued negotiations, noting that much of the country’s HIV programme relies on external financing. It suggested that issues related to data governance and implementation frameworks could be addressed through technical clarification and negotiated safeguards.
Zimbabwe’s withdrawal comes as the US considers reducing humanitarian support to several African countries, raising concerns about the future of longstanding assistance for HIV treatment, nutrition programmes and other essential services.