MoH: US funding cut won’t impact HIV health records

The ministry said all data on HIV and STIs is securely stored and hosted in its servers.

by PERPETUA ETYANG

News03 April 2025 - 21:28

In Summary

On January 20 immdiately after taking oath of office, Trump introduced sweeping policy reforms, including suspension of USAID.
The drastic decision is feared to have severe economic repercussions, particularly in developing nations where thousands rely on USAID for food security, healthcare, and poverty alleviation.

The Ministry of Health has assured Kenyans that Donald Trump's funding cuts will not impact patients’ health records in Kenya.

On January 20 immdiately after taking oath of office, Trump introduced sweeping policy reforms, including suspension of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) programs worldwide.

The drastic decision is feared to have severe economic repercussions, particularly in developing nations where thousands rely on USAID for food security, healthcare, and poverty alleviation.

This includes collection and storage of patient data which the ministry now says was not affected by the funding cuts.

The ministry said all data on HIV and STIs securely stored in servers hosted by the Ministry of Health.

The ministry further sought to allay fears of data privacy breach saying data collected is primarily used to support patient care and service delivery and is only accessible to authorised personnel for the purpose of enhancing patient care and informing policy decisions.

“We guarantee confidentiality of all patient/client data within HIV care and beyond. The current USG funding cuts have no impact on the availability or access to patient/client health records information,” the ministry said in a joint statement with National Aids Control Programme (Nascop).

In February, Kenya said it will continue engaging with the US to ensure continuity of USAID-funded programmes.

The government stated that it was pursuing diplomatic interventions to seek clarification, request waivers and secure approvals for the continuation of the programmes.

"Certain development partners have recently made abrupt policy changes regarding the financing of health programmes," Deputy President Kithure Kindiki said.

"I assure the nation that we remain committed to ensuring that any policy decisions by our development partners do not compromise the delivery of healthcare services in Kenya," he added.

Should diplomatic efforts fail, the government said it planned to fully absorb the Sh24.9 billion shortfall into its national budget.

Already, Sh2 billion has been allocated for vaccines, with an additional Sh2.5 billion set aside to prevent disruptions from the Vaccine Alliance Gavi freeze.

Meanwhile, the National Syndemic Diseases Control Council (NSDCC) assured Kenyans that the country has enough anti-retroviral and Tuberculosis drugs amid fears over the USAID funding freeze.