The Kenyan government said it didn’t sign a specimen-sharing agreement with the United States but will share data on request if regulators sign off and the data relates to U.S.-supported work.
The clarification comes in the wake of a bilateral health agreement signed last week. The U.S. State Department is expected to sign dozens of these in the coming months as part of its new ‘America First’ global health strategy. Kenya was first to sign, with Rwanda in tow.
The Americans have been seeking specimen data which can help companies develop vaccines and other countermeasures against disease outbreaks. A template bilateral agreement showed that the U.S. was asking for 25 years of this type of data sharing — causing widespread criticisms given this runs counter to global efforts to ensure countries also benefit from any countermeasures developed from data they provide.
About the author
Sara Jervingsarajerving
Sara Jerving is a Senior Reporter at Devex, where she covers global health. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, VICE News, and Bloomberg News among others. Sara holds a master's degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism where she was a Lorana Sullivan fellow. She was a finalist for One World Media's Digital Media Award in 2021; a finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists in 2018; and she was part of a VICE News Tonight on HBO team that received an Emmy nomination in 2018. She received the Philip Greer Memorial Award from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 2014.
