The deal commits Kenya to share pathogen data with the US within one day of any discovery. This has raised concerns among health policy experts about how pathogen data and genetic sequence information could be shared outside the WHO framework. “If American institutions use Kenyan pathogen data to develop high-value products, what benefits are guaranteed to flow back to Kenya? Broadly, the Kenya–United States deal is about replacing the health funding previously channelled through the now-defunct Usaid system. The US is slowly reducing its health funding through AFGHS and wants countries like Kenya to take over most of the costs.

Source: The Star January 13, 2026 12:26 UTC