HARARE – The United States (US) has announced plans to wind down its health assistance to Zimbabwe following the government’s decision to withdraw from negotiations on a proposed US$367 million health cooperation agreement, in a move Washington described as “difficult and regrettable.
In a statement released by the US Embassy in Harare on Tuesday, Pamela Tremont said the decision marked a significant setback for health cooperation between the two countries.
“We will now turn to the difficult and regrettable task of winding down our health assistance in Zimbabwe,” she said.
She added that the US hoped the government would sustain the fight against HIV/AIDS.
The proposed five-year Memorandum of Understanding would have supported priority health programmes, including HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, tuberculosis, malaria, maternal and child health, and disease outbreak preparedness.
“We believe this collaboration would have delivered extraordinary benefits for Zimbabwean communities-especially the 1.2 million men, women, and children currently receiving HIV treatment through U.S.-supported programs,” she added.
According to the United States, the agreement would have been the largest potential health investment in Zimbabwe by any international partner and was structured as a co-funding arrangement requiring Zimbabwe to gradually increase domestic health spending.
US-supported programmes currently assist about 1.2 million Zimbabweans receiving HIV treatment.
Zimbabwe’s withdrawal from the talks comes at a time when the country continues to rely heavily on external funding for its health sector and has struggled to meet the 15 percent health spending target set under the African Union’s Abuja Declaration.
The decision also coincides with a shift in US foreign health assistance policy under the America First Global Health Strategy, which places greater emphasis on domestic financing and government-led health systems.
Sixteen African countries have signed health cooperation agreements with the United States under the framework, although the terms vary by country.
In a memorandum dated 23 December 2025, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Chimbindi instructed senior government officials to halt negotiations with the United States on a proposed health cooperation agreement.
The directive, issued on President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s instructions and copied to Finance Secretary George Guvamatanga and Health Secretary Aspect Maunganidze, stated that the proposed agreement was considered “lopsided” and seen as compromising Zimbabwe’s sovereignty and independence.
Government objections centred on provisions that would have granted the United States direct access to Zimbabwe’s health data for a specified period, which authorities viewed as excessive external oversight.
Zimbabwe also raised concerns over broader conditions attached to the agreement, including proposals it believed were linked to access to the country’s critical mineral resources.
Meanwhile, the US last week introduced a long-acting HIV prevention treatment, lenacapavir, in Zimbabwe as part of ongoing efforts to support HIV prevention.
The programme was launched in Epworth by US Embassy officials, who described lenacapavir as an innovative prevention option administered twice a year to reduce new HIV infections, particularly among vulnerable populations.
Developed by Gilead Sciences, the treatment is expected to benefit about 271,000 people over the next three years and could help prevent thousands of new infections.
