In a major move under the America First Global Health Strategy, the US signed health partnerships with four African nations this week, committing nearly $2.3B to tackle diseases and boost health systems 🌍💉
The deals span Madagascar, Sierra Leone, Botswana, and Ethiopia, with the US pledging $1.4B and host countries co-investing over $900M. Each agreement sets clear targets, strict timelines, and penalties for missed goals to ensure real impact.
What's in the package?
- Ethiopia: Focus on HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria, polio eradication, maternal & child health, and pandemic preparedness, plus ongoing support against Marburg virus.
- Botswana: Plans to modernize electronic medical records and ramp up disease surveillance systems 📊.
- Sierra Leone: Over $30M front-loaded in early 2026 to strengthen lab capacity, data systems, workforce, and surveillance.
- Madagascar: Investments targeting malaria, maternal & child health, and a shift of community health teams to national ownership.
These MOUs join others signed since the strategy launched in September this year. Kenya was first on December 4, though a local court has paused part of its deal over a data privacy case. Nigeria, Rwanda, Cameroon, Lesotho, and Liberia are also on board.
Looking ahead, the US plans to roll out similar multi-year health cooperation agreements with dozens more partners in the coming weeks. For young pros keeping tabs on global health, these moves could reshape how nations respond to disease threats – one benchmark at a time ✔️
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
