Zambia and the United States will on Thursday sign a revised five-year health financing agreement worth more than $3.6 billion after Lusaka secured the removal of contentious provisions on patient data and biological specimen sharing that had sparked public concern.
Health Minister Roma Chilengi said the memorandum of understanding (MOU), covering the period 2026 to 2030, had been amended to eliminate clauses that critics feared could compromise the country’s control over sensitive health information and biological samples.
“The government is pleased to announce that it will sign the agreement on Thursday,” Chilengi said.
Under the co-financing arrangement, the US will contribute $1.516 billion while the Zambian government will provide $2.107 billion, bringing the total value of the partnership to more than $3.6 billion.
The agreement is due to be signed at the Ministry of Finance and National Planning in Lusaka.
Chilengi said negotiations had addressed concerns surrounding data protection, intellectual property, benefit-sharing and specimen-sharing requirements contained in earlier drafts.
“As the MoU stands now, it completely has no reference to any specimen-sharing conditions. That appendix is completely dropped,” he said.
He added that the revised agreement does not allow the sharing of individual patient information, limiting information exchange to data needed to monitor and evaluate programmes funded under the arrangement.
The minister described the deal as a landmark health financing arrangement aimed at sustaining essential health services across Zambia’s 10 provinces and 116 districts.
The US is already one of Zambia’s largest health-sector partners, providing support for HIV/AIDS, malaria and broader public health programmes.
The agreement follows months of scrutiny after Zambia, like several other African countries, raised concerns over proposed US requirements for wider sharing of health data and biological specimens as part of funding arrangements.
Government negotiators subsequently secured revisions narrowing data-sharing provisions and removing specimen-sharing requirements altogether, clearing the way for Thursday’s signing ceremony.
JN/APA