Health Ministry dispels data breach claims in new Kenya-US health deal

The 5-year cooperation framework was signed on Thursday in Washington to support Kenya's priority health programs while strengthening the long-term sustainability of national health systems.

The agreement will see the U.S government invest Ksh.208 billion into Kenya's health institutions in the next 5 years.

In a statement on Sunday, Health CS Aden Duale noted that the agreement explicitly dictates that Kenya retains sole ownership of the data and all associated intellectual property rights in the covered systems. 

He clarified that the agreement is designed around aggregate-level data—information shared in dashboards and national reports—and does not require sharing of private information like names, ID numbers, phone contacts, addresses, or individual medical files.

"The Agreement goes further and sets a firm guardrail: to the maximum extent practical, Kenya shall not provide individual-level data or personally identifiable information—PII—to the U.S. Government. That sentence exists to protect Kenyans. It was deliberately included to stop exactly the kinds of fears being circulated today," Duale noted.

He added that the deal has also observed legal guidelines of the Constitution, the Health Act 2017, the Data Protection Act 2019, and the Digital Health Act 2023.

"This Agreement does not exist in a vacuum. It sits within Kenya’s constitutional order, where the right to privacy is guaranteed, and where any limitation of rights must be lawful, reasonable, and justifiable. That constitutional standard is non-negotiable," he added.

CS Duale maintained that the framework will significantly aid in the efforts to eliminate HIV, TB and malaria, accelerate the transition to fully self-reliant national health systems by 2030.

This comes after the United States Embassy in Nairobi reassured Kenyans that their health data will remain safe and unidentifiable under the health cooperation framework.

The U.S. Embassy added that the money is not a loan, but direct government-to-government assistance aimed at strengthening Kenya’s health system and reducing reliance on fragmented donor-led programs.

The agreement also requires the Kenyan to increase its domestic health expenditure by 850 million over the period.

The historic deal saw Kenya become the first African country to sign a government-to-government agreement with the U.S.