Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has firmly dismissed claims that Kenya will hand over citizens’ personal medical records to the United States under the recently signed Kenya–US Health Cooperation Framework. In a statement, Duale clarified that the agreement only allows the sharing of aggregated health statistics. He emphasized that individual medical files, personal identifiers, ID numbers, or addresses will not be accessed by the US government under any circumstances.
The seven-year framework has sparked debate among Kenyans, many of whom questioned the type of information that might be shared. Responding to the rising concern, the Ministry of Health assured the public that the implementation of the deal fully complies with the Constitution, the Health Act (2017), and the Data Protection Act (2019)—all of which safeguard the right to privacy.
Duale criticized what he termed “false and misleading claims,” suggesting the US would gain unrestricted entry into Kenya’s health data systems. He insisted that Kenya maintains complete control and sovereignty over its health information, deciding what is collected, how it is protected, and who is allowed to access it.
The concerns emerged after a clause indicated that the two governments would later develop a separate data-sharing agreement. Duale explained that even then, only totals, trends, indicators, and system-wide metrics will be shared, not any personally identifying information.
The framework will also include a process-metric audit system, where the Kenyan government will provide the US with the necessary information to verify results in up to 5% of randomly selected or jointly chosen facilities, programs, or laboratories.
Under the partnership, the US government is set to invest KSh 208 billion into Kenya’s health sector over the next five years, with an additional two years dedicated to reporting, monitoring, and periodic reviews.
