Congo and US agree to $1.2 billion health partnership

United States and Congo Sign $1.2 Billion Health Partnership

Kinshasa, Congo – The United States and Congo signed a $1.2 billion health partnership on Thursday, according to a joint statement from the two governments. The U.S. Department of State announced it will provide up to $900 million over the next five years to support Congo in combating HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, maternal and child mortality, and other infectious diseases.

As part of the agreement, Congo’s government committed to increasing its domestic health expenditures by $300 million over the same period. This partnership is the latest agreement the U.S. has entered into with more than a dozen African countries, many of which have faced significant U.S. aid cuts in recent years.

U.S. aid reductions have strained health systems across the developing world, particularly in Africa, where many nations rely heavily on foreign funding for vital programs, including responses to disease outbreaks. According to the State Department, the U.S. has now signed 19 bilateral global health partnerships with African countries as of Thursday.

The Trump administration has described the new “America First” global health funding agreements as efforts to increase self-sufficiency among partner countries while eliminating what it calls ideological priorities and waste in international aid. These deals replace a patchwork of previous health agreements that were managed under the now-dismantled United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Analysts note that this new approach to global health aligns with President Donald Trump’s transactional style of diplomacy, relying on direct negotiations with foreign governments to advance U.S. interests abroad.

The announcement of the U.S.-Congo partnership comes amidst growing concerns from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) about certain provisions in these agreements. Specifically, some agreements require countries to share data on viruses with Washington as a condition for receiving funding. This has raised alarms about data privacy and pathogen sharing.

“There are huge concerns regarding data, regarding pathogen sharing,” Africa CDC director-general Dr. Jean Kaseya said during a press briefing.

Just a day earlier, negotiations on a health funding deal between the U.S. and Zimbabwe collapsed after Zimbabwe rejected a requirement to share sensitive health data. It remains unclear whether such a data-sharing requirement is included in the newly signed partnership between the U.S. and Congo.

Marine Banchereau reported from Dakar, Senegal; Associated Press reporter Justin Kabumba contributed from Goma, Congo.

https://abcnews.com/Health/wireStory/congo-us-agree-12-billion-health-partnership-130546593

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