Michael Gwarisa
The Director General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control, Dr Jean Kaseya, has stressed that Africa’s health sovereignty is non-negotiable, amid growing resistance by African states to aspects of United States-backed health agreements.
His remarks follow disclosures by countries including Zimbabwe and Zambia, which this week confirmed they had declined a United States government health cooperation deal under the America First Global Health Strategy, citing terms they described as inconsistent and unbalanced.
In Zimbabwe, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed that the proposed agreement would have required Harare to grant the United States access to its pathogenic data. Under the arrangement, biological specimens would be shipped to the US, where advanced diagnostics would be conducted, with Zimbabwe gaining access to the results and technologies developed by US laboratories.
Responding to a question from HealthTimes during a weekly virtual press briefing, Dr Kaseya said African countries have an inherent right to own, control, and protect their pathogenic data.
“We want to own our future. We cannot accept a situation where we do not own our data. We will continue to support our member states,” Dr Kaseya said.
He emphasized that Africa CDC’s support remains unconditional, regardless of whether countries choose to sign, reject, or renegotiate such agreements.
“Even if a country wants to renegotiate and asks Africa CDC to be present, we will be there. This is our mandate, given to us by our Heads of State, and it is grounded in full respect for national sovereignty,” he said.
“I support Zimbabwe if they want further negotiations. I support Zambia and other countries. At the same time, for those countries that decided to sign, we will support them fully in implementation.”
Dr Kaseya said Africa CDC’s role was also to ensure that implementation succeeds where agreements are signed.
“We do not want to be accused later of failure in implementation. That is why we are taking time to be clear, transparent, and supportive,” he said.
He added that the same message had been communicated directly to US officials following the negotiations.
“I gave this message to US colleagues who met with me after the negotiations. I told them clearly that this is our role as a continental public health agency. I also gave the same message to our Heads of State, who later congratulated Africa CDC during the Assembly for the support we are providing.”
Dr Kaseya further argued that Africa must move away from dependency and toward redesigned systems that deliver value for money, underpinned by African ownership, accountability, and sovereignty across all sectors.
Africa’s current resistance to aspects of US health agreements, he said, stems from long-standing concerns around transparency, sovereignty, and control of health data.
Reflecting on earlier engagements with Washington, Dr Kaseya revealed that as far back as September 2024, before the US elections, he had begun pressing US authorities to provide clarity on reported health spending in Africa.
The United States has frequently stated that it spends up to US$18 billion annually on health programmes across the continent, a claim Dr Kaseya said required verification.
“We said, tell us exactly what you are giving, where the money is going, and who the beneficiaries are,” he said.
By late October 2024, Africa CDC had obtained detailed data from the US government and shared it with African health ministers. According to Dr Kaseya, the results raised serious concerns.
“None of them, and I say none of them, recognised the amounts the US said it was providing to their countries,” he said.
Following the inauguration of Donald Trump in January 2025, Dr Kaseya travelled to the United States for direct engagements with senior officials. In March, Africa CDC convened what he described as a “co-creation meeting” at the US State Department, bringing together multiple US agencies.
Africa’s position during those discussions, he said, was straightforward.
“We want the US to give money directly to African countries, but we also want African governments to raise more domestic resources to co-finance these programmes,” Dr Kaseya said.
When details of the America First Global Health Strategy later emerged, he said he initially welcomed the framework, believing it reflected Africa’s advocacy.
However, tensions arose when Africa CDC was asked to participate in negotiations only as an observer.
“We cannot be observers when partners are negotiating with our countries. This is about sovereignty,” he said.
Dr Kaseya warned that Africa’s recent experiences, including cases where donor funding cuts resulted in the loss of critical health data, have reinforced the urgency of data ownership.
