AN official within the American government has disputed claims that their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on support in Zimbabwe's health sector was centred on them getting access to the country's critical minerals.
The US$367-million-dollar deal, according to the source, was strictly about health and transitioning financing responsibility from the American government to Zimbabwe over five years.
Zimbabwe, however, discontinued engagements with the US Embassy last year November citing issues to do with sovereignty and national security.
"The MoU focused solely on health cooperation and did not contain any provisions related to critical minerals, neither explicitly nor implicitly," said the official.
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"This MoU is, and has always been, about health of the Zimbabwean people and gradually transitioning the responsibility for that to the Zimbabwean government."
With America funding the bulk of Zimbabwe's fight against HIV/Aids through supply of condoms, antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) and the recently launched HIV prevention drug, Lenacapavir, fears abound the country's success could be undone when funding ceases.
A US$85 million programme to support various, related initiatives is also set to close early April, without any indication of whether engagements might revive it.
The official questioned how government could, today, raise issues of data protection when Zimbabwe had been sharing more detailed data with America since 2006.
Added the official: "In line with standard global practices, it provides for the collection and analysis of only anonymous, aggregated health data that is essential to targeting assistance, measuring program success, and ensuring timely, coordinated responses to disease outbreaks.
"In other words, the same data kind of data we've been sharing since PEPFAR began in 2006."
In an interview with Global South World, Permanent Secretary in the information ministry, Nick Mangwana said their request for American data was not approved hence the decision to end engagements.
He argued that Zimbabwe was not going to benefit from sharing theirs.
"Whatever outcome they would have gotten from our data, would have been used to develop treatments and vaccines and make a lot of money with Zimbabwe getting nothing," said Mangwana.
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The United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has been implementing HIV programmes across Zimbabwe since 2006, playing a key role in the country achieving the UNAIDS 95/95/95 status.
The UNAIDS 95/95/95 is achieved when 95% of all people living with HIV know their status, 95% of those diagnosed receive sustained ARVs and 95% of those receiving the life-saving drugs have viral suppression.
