President William Ruto Thursday witnessed the signing of a historic Health Cooperation Framework with the United States, marking the start of a 25-year partnership aimed at advancing universal health coverage in Kenya.
Under the agreement, the United States will commit 1.6 billion dollars to Kenya over the next five years-resources that will be channelled directly through government institutions, eliminating third-party intermediaries and guaranteeing that support reaches the intended beneficiaries for maximum impact and accountability.
The MoU was signed by Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to replace a patchwork of previous health agreements that had traditionally been run by the U.S. Agency for International Development for decades until the Trump administration dismantled it earlier this year.
The elimination of USAID as a separate agency sparked widespread criticism and concern in the global health community as its immediate impact resulted in the defunding of multiple hundreds of programs focused on the developing world, including cuts to maternal and child care, nutrition and anti-HIV/AIDS programs.
Kenya becomes the first country in Africa to sign such agreement. Rubio said the agreement with Kenya “aims to strengthen U.S. leadership and excellence in global health while eliminating dependency, ideology, inefficiency, and waste from our foreign assistance architecture.
He praised Kenya’s universal health care system as a model for emulation. Kenya is expected to gradually take over US Government-funded Health Commodities and Human Resources for health by 2031, totalling 141 Million USD.
The agreement focuses on eliminating HIV/AIDS, TB, Malaria and emerging infectious diseases.
President Ruto described the milestone as transformative. “This transformative framework prioritises the supply of modern medical equipment to our hospitals, the efficient and timely delivery of essential health commodities to our facilities, the upscaling of our health workforce, and the expansion of health insurance to ensure that every Kenyan is protected”.
He further expressed his deep appreciation to the Government of the United States, under the leadership of President Donald Trump, for choosing Kenya as the first nation to sign such a Framework.
“This decision reflects growing confidence in the strength, sustainability, and reform momentum of our healthcare systems”, he said.
Trump’s administration in September announced a new “America First Global Health Strategy” that calls for poorer nations to play a bigger role in fighting HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and polio in their countries and eventually transition from aid to self-reliance.
The Secretary further commended Kenya’s ongoing contributions to regional stability and counter-terrorism.
Both parties further acknowledged the need for a strong Gang Suppression Force in Haiti that can build on Kenya’s already-significant contribution to that effort.
Additional reporting by Agencies
