Health Policy Watch | US finally signs health deal with Zambia, but still pursues minerals agreement

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Health Policy Watch news story

Zambia and the United States finally signed a bilateral health aid agreement on Thursday (8 October) – after a 10-month delay as the US pushed for better access to the country’s minerals and changes to mining and agricultural regulations in exchange for health aid.

In 2024, 84% of Zambia’s HIV programme was funded by PEPFAR – and 1.3 million Zambians are on antiretroviral medicines to keep their HIV in check.

But Zambian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mulambo Haimbe told reporters at the signing ceremony that the country is negotiating a separate critical minerals agreement with the US. Zambia is one of the world’s biggest copper producers and also has large deposits of lithium and cobalt.

Read the full news story here.


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