US$50m aid cut starts next year, US Embassy
By Tony Nkhoma
THE United States (US) government says the cut of US$50 million in medicines and medical supplies assistance for Zambia announced in May this year will begin next year.
Zambia and the US government have since discussed a new health agreement aimed at consolidating both countries’ public health gains.
Established opinion leaders specialist in the public affairs section at the US Embassy Zarina Geloo said this in an update yesterday.
“In May 2025, the United States announced plans to cut US$50 million in assistance for medicines and medical supplies due to the unaddressed systematic theft of such products, and this reduction will begin in 2026,” Geloo said.
She said the new US aid was aimed at addressing HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, cholera outbreak surveillance and maternal and child health in Zambia.
“At the same time, it will cement the laboratory and data systems, staffing and medical interventions jointly developed over more than 20 years to ensure long-term sustainability in providing quality health care to Zambians and promote health security for Americans and the region,” Geloo said.
She said early this week, a high-level US government delegation visited Lusaka to chart a new course for US health assistance to Zambia.
Geloo said the delegation initiated discussions on the provision of new grant assistance to support health systems and services in the next five years.
Under the new multi-year funding and performance agreement, both governments envisioned funding levels aimed at transitioning from an aid-dependent health sector to a Zambian health system.
“The new approach envisions both governments committing to funding levels and health outcome performance objectives to accelerate the transition from an aid-dependent health sector to a Zambian government-led health system that can sustainably meet the health needs of the Zambian people,” Geloo said.
She said in recent years, the US had provided hundreds of millions of dollars in health assistance grants to Zambia annually.
Geloo said the aid projects were paused and many were terminated during a programme review earlier this year.
She, however, said the overwhelming majority of US health assistance to Zambia continued following the programme review.
