Is Kenya giving away health data to the U.S.? Inside the new Sh207B deal

Kenya and the United States will negotiate a formal health data-sharing agreement as part of a new cooperation framework that aims to modernise the country’s health system, strengthen disease surveillance, and expand digital infrastructure across all levels of care. 

The 37-page document, signed by the two governments, outlines a broad plan to integrate Kenya’s national health data systems, increase digitalisation in facilities, and coordinate outbreak detection and response between the two countries.

According to the framework, Kenya will consolidate data from hospitals, community health units, laboratories, pharmacies and the national health insurance ecosystem into a centralised architecture aligned with the Digital Health Act, 2023. 

All health data will be warehoused in both the national and county-level data banks as the country shifts its entire system to digital records.

The United States has committed to providing $1.6 billion in financial and technical support for this transformation, including upgrading digital tools used in surveillance, laboratory information management, emergency response platforms, and medicine supply chain systems. 

The document states that the U.S. will invest in improving Kenya’s Health Information Management Systems (HMIS), the Integrated Specimen Referral Network (ISRS), and the National Logistics Management Information System (NLMIS), among others.

A key provision indicates that the two countries intend to negotiate a data-sharing agreement to enable the implementation of the digital health strategy and other joint activities. 

The agreement will determine how the two governments exchange data, what information is included, and the security, privacy and governance standards required for sharing.

The framework also reveals the depth of U.S. involvement in Kenya’s disease surveillance systems. 

The U.S. will support outbreak detection infrastructure, maintenance of laboratory data systems, and enhancements to Kenya’s surveillance networks, including the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) system. 

It will also fund improvements to the national Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), laboratory diagnostics, and public health emergency management.

Kenya, on its part, commits to implementing the digital health architecture countrywide, expanding digital systems to more than 4,000 public and faith-based health facilities by 2028, and strengthening data governance mechanisms to ensure compliance with national laws. 

The government also plans to upgrade the TIBU system used for TB surveillance, the Kenya Electronic Medical Records System (KenyaEMR), and the Social Health Authority’s data systems.

The cooperation framework sits alongside large U.S. financial commitments running through 2030, supporting commodities, laboratory systems, frontline workers, and emergency response capabilities. 

However, the digital health component, particularly the proposed data-sharing agreement, is one of the most consequential elements due to its long-term implications for national data governance, security, and health system autonomy.

Officials from both countries say the partnership is intended to modernise Kenya’s health architecture, improve coordination during outbreaks, and strengthen the country’s ability to detect and respond to emerging diseases.

The government has not yet announced when negotiations on the data-sharing agreement will begin or when the digital health systems will go live, but implementation of several components is expected to start in 2026.