US freezes health agreement with Kenya awaiting case outcome
By Kiprono Keileb, February 12, 2026The United States has put on hold a health funding agreement with Kenya after court stopped its rollout. The court put a brake on the implementation of the five-year framework meant to provide additional funding for the fight against HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, among other diseases, after litigants questioned access to sensitive patient data.
Speaking during a press briefing at Nyeri County Referral Hospital while reviewing ongoing HIV response efforts and broader health partnerships in the county on Thursday, February 12, 2026, US Embassy Charge d’Affaires Susan Burns, indicated that decisions on how the funding will be structured and applied must follow Kenya’s legal process and public discussion.
“It is up to the Kenyans to decide how they want this funding and how it needs to be implemented, that is the discussion that we have to have with the government but the matter is at the court at the moment,” she stated during the presser.
She explained that engagement between the US government and Kenyan authorities will continue as both sides await direction from the courts on the disputed agreement.
“We have a lot of work to do in implementation we continue to have that conversation with the government in respect with the decisions that will come out of the courts. Am looking forward to seeing how we are able to do that,” US Embassy Charge d’Affaires Susan Burns stated.
Burns also reassured patients and health workers that existing programmes supporting treatment and prevention will not be disrupted during the legal process.
“We are going to provide ongoing funding through through Embasy assistance, we are going to continue with the live saving that we have done here for many many years o HIV Aids, Malaria and Tuberculosis, so we will continue to do as we welcome the implementation of the new program,” she stated.