Deputy speaker Thomas Tayebwa has directed the parliament’s health committee to conduct a comprehensive review of a $2.3 billion (about Shs 8.09 trillion) health cooperation agreement between Uganda and the United States.
The directive comes amid debate among lawmakers over whether the agreement requires parliamentary ratification, with parallels drawn to a similar pact in Kenya that was recently suspended by a court over data privacy concerns. The agreement, signed on December 10, 2025, by the ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development and the US Embassy, seeks to strengthen Uganda’s health sector over five years.
It provides funding to train and equip more than 14,000 community health units (CHUs), enhance disease surveillance systems, improve electronic medical records, and promote data interoperability to enable real-time decision-making.
This is largely under the America First Global Health Strategy, released on September 18, which outlines a vision to enhance US safety, prosperity, and global health leadership while saving lives and preventing the spread of diseases globally.
The strategy transitions US global health assistance to multi-year bilateral agreements that strengthen local health systems, reduce inefficiencies, and promote sustainability. However, clauses requiring Uganda to share medical specimens from patients with the United States have sparked concern, with critics warning of potential violations of personal data privacy.
These concerns mirror developments in neighbouring Kenya, where the High court on December 11, 2025, issued conservatory orders suspending implementation of a comparable $2.5 billion health agreement with the US.
The Kenyan court halted provisions involving the transfer, sharing, or dissemination of medical, epidemiological, or other sensitive personal health data, pending a full hearing scheduled for February 2026.
The agreements provide five to ten years of health funding and technical support in exchange for co-financing, access to health data, pathogen specimens, and national health system information.
Civil society actors say the government-to-government financing model marks a significant shift in global health cooperation, moving away from multilateral frameworks that traditionally involve civil society participation and oversight.
