The United States and Rwanda have signed a new five-year health cooperation agreement aimed at strengthening Rwanda’s health system, sustaining progress against major diseases, and improving outbreak preparedness.
The memorandum of understanding was signed in Washington by Jeremy Lewin, the US Under Secretary for Foreign Assistance, Humanitarian Affairs and Religious Freedom, and Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Olivier Nduhungirehe.
The $228 million partnership sets out a joint plan to improve public health outcomes in Rwanda while gradually increasing Rwanda’s financial responsibility for key programmes.
Rwanda has made significant gains in recent years, particularly in tackling HIV/AIDS. It is among the few countries that have achieved the global 95-95-95 targets for HIV epidemic control. The new agreement builds on these achievements by supporting stronger national ownership of health delivery systems, expanding health infrastructure, and shifting away from parallel NGO-run programmes.
According to the arrangement, and subject to approval by the US Congress, the United States intends to contribute up to $158 million over the next five years. The funding will support Rwanda’s work on HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other infectious diseases, as well as efforts to improve disease surveillance and rapid outbreak response.
In return, Rwanda has committed to increase its domestic health investment by $70 million during the same period. By the fourth year of the partnership, Rwanda is expected to take full control of its HIV/AIDS programme.
The agreement also includes elements aimed at strengthening medical supply chains and scientific innovation. It builds on a recent contract awarded to Zipline to construct advanced medical-delivery robotics, which Rwanda will operate and maintain. It also allocates $10 million to Ginkgo Bioworks to expand disease-surveillance systems in the country, creating an early-warning “biothreat radar” for potential outbreaks across the region.
Rwanda has additionally expressed interest in exploring further partnerships with US private-sector companies, including collaborations in next-generation HIV therapies and the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare.
Officials from both countries hailed the agreement as a step toward more sustainable health systems and long-term resilience, while reducing dependency on external support.
The United States is expected to sign similar multi-year global health cooperation agreements with other partner countries in the coming weeks.
