Member of Parliament for Mpopoma-Mzilikazi, Charles Moyo, has called on the government to explain its reported withdrawal from negotiations on a major bilateral health memorandum with the United States.
The proposed agreement would have provided Zimbabwe with $367m in funding for critical health programmes and supported about 1.2 million people receiving HIV treatment through US-backed initiatives.
Speaking in Parliament, Moyo said the US Embassy had indicated that Zimbabwe had pulled out of talks over the proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
“Given that 15 African countries have signed, I therefore request the Hon Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade to bring a ministerial statement next week without fail, explaining the conditions of our withdrawal,” he said.
“Generally, parties are supposed to negotiate and renegotiate until they reach a win-win situation.”
In a statement issued last week, US Ambassador to Zimbabwe Pamela Tremont said the partnership would have delivered significant benefits to Zimbabwean communities.
“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 US-supported programmes,” she said.
“We will now turn to the difficult and regrettable task of winding down our health assistance in Zimbabwe.”
At least 17 African countries have signed similar health cooperation agreements with Washington, representing more than $18.3bn in new health funding through a combination of US assistance and co-investment from recipient governments.
According to the US Department of State, the countries include Ethiopia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire, Uganda, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cameroon, Eswatini, Mozambique, Nigeria and Rwanda.
Meanwhile, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has raised concerns about certain aspects of US health funding agreements. Its Director-General, Jean Kaseya, said African governments should carefully scrutinise the terms, particularly those relating to data governance and pathogen sharing.
“There are huge concerns regarding data and pathogen sharing,” he said.
He added that the Africa CDC would continue to support countries seeking advice on renegotiating or implementing agreements.
“I said to all of my countries, you have full support from the Africa CDC. Even if you want to renegotiate, if you want the Africa CDC to be there, we will be there,” he said.