United States and Tanzania Advance Global Fight Against Infectious Diseases Through Bilateral Health Memorandum of Understanding

Today, the United States and Tanzania signed a five-year bilateral global health Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) through the Trump Administration’s America First Global Health Strategy to save lives, advance shared global health goals, and bolster Tanzanian self-sufficiency to address infectious diseases and emerging health threats.

Building on decades of gains made through U.S. global health assistance to Tanzania, the United States and Tanzania will act as co-investors under this MOU, jointly building a durable network of hospitals, laboratories, and health care workers able to care for Tanzanians now and independently address public health threats of the future.  The United States will direct assistance to support Tanzania’s health priorities and help Tanzania tap into American expertise in pharmaceuticals, health innovation, and technology.  Joint activities under this MOU aim to facilitate a sustainable transition from the previous donor-recipient model to a new partnership that will help Tanzania finance, manage, and sustain its health system over the long run, strengthening Tanzania’s ability to detect and respond to infectious disease outbreaks. The five-year MOU also intends to sustain national control of HIV, malaria, polio, and tuberculosis, and meet the needs of Tanzania’s growing population through supporting maternal and child health.

The United States, working with Congress, intends to provide more than $1.3 billion over five years under this MOU, and the United Republic of Tanzania intends to increase its domestic expenditures by $1.8 billion in national funds over the same time period.  This $3.1 billion memorandum of understanding reflects the vision of the America First Global Health Strategy, which recognizes that the strongest and most sustainable partnerships are those that help countries build the capacity to lead, finance, and sustain their own health systems. It reflects a shift from traditional donor-recipient relationships toward true partnership; from aid to trade; from dependence to self-reliance; and from short-term support to long-term sustainability.

America First Global Health Strategy Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) signed so far represent more than $24 billion in new health funding, including more than $14.3 billion in U.S. assistance alongside more than $9.6 billion in co-investment from recipient countries, building on decades of progress fighting HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and other infectious diseases around the world. As of July 1, the State Department has signed 34 bilateral global health MOUs with Angola, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Guinea, Honduras, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Panama, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, and Uganda.