US Embassy Challenges Zimbabwe Minister's Claims Over Rejected US$365 Million Health Deal

Southerton Business Times
2 days ago
2 min read

By Southerton Business Times | Harare

The United States Embassy in Harare has publicly challenged claims made by Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Dr Zhemu Soda regarding Zimbabwe's decision to reject a US$365 million health funding agreement, saying the minister's description of the proposal was inaccurate. The diplomatic response comes after Dr Soda told Parliament that the Government declined the five-year health agreement because it was concerned the United States wanted access to Zimbabweans' private health data for research purposes.

Government Explains Why It Rejected the Health Agreement

Addressing Parliament, Dr Soda said the Government was not satisfied that the proposed arrangement would adequately protect Zimbabweans. According to the minister, authorities believed the agreement could expose sensitive health information and therefore decided against accepting it. He said the Government was unwilling to approve an arrangement whose intentions it was not fully convinced about.

US Embassy Rejects Minister's Characterisation

However, a spokesperson for the US Embassy in Harare, speaking to NewZimbabwe.com, rejected the minister's account, describing it as a misrepresentation of the proposed Health Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

"We reject the recent mischaracterisation of the terms of the Health Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) made by a high-level Government of Zimbabwe official, which described the MOU as a threat," the spokesperson said.

The embassy said the agreement would have provided US$365 million over five years to support Zimbabwe's public health sector.

According to the embassy, the funding was earmarked for programmes covering:

HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention
Tuberculosis control
Malaria programmes
Maternal and child health services
Laboratory systems
Disease surveillance and outbreak response

Embassy Says Conditions Were Standard Practice

The embassy said the proposed agreement required Zimbabwe to co-invest in the programmes to improve long-term sustainability and to strengthen financial accountability measures. It also said the sharing of disease specimens during outbreaks formed part of internationally accepted public health practice.

"The MOU required very reasonable conditions: that the Zimbabwean government co-invest, assuring sustainability of the programs; provide financial accountability and transparency to guarantee funds benefit the people and communities of Zimbabwe; and share specimens when outbreaks occur, which is a long-standing global practice to develop solutions quickly," the spokesperson said.

The embassy further rejected suggestions that the United States had sought access to Zimbabweans' personal medical records.

It said claims that American-funded medical research would not benefit Zimbabweans were contradicted by decades of health cooperation between the two countries, during which Zimbabwe has received medicines, vaccines and other medical support funded by the United States. According to the embassy, similar health agreements have been implemented in 34 countries, representing a combined investment of approximately US$14.3 billion. The Zimbabwean Government has not yet publicly responded to the embassy's latest remarks.