A Glencore-operated copper mine in Kitwe, Zambia.Image: imago stock&people
Donald Trump’s government is threatening the Zambian government with withdrawing healthcare support if it does not grant the USA privileges on raw materials.
April 30, 2026, 6:23 p.mApril 30, 2026, 6:23 p.m
One of Donald Trump’s first official acts after returning to the White House in 2025 was to cut aid and funding for countries and organizations abroad. This also affected the extremely successful emergency program to combat HIV/AIDS, PEPFAR. The program initiated by George W. Bush in 2003 achieved a breakthrough in the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic that was rampant at the time in the countries of the African continent.
One country that was particularly in focus was Zambia, which was considered one of the worst affected countries in the world. UN data shows that the life expectancy of the population fell to less than 50 years after the outbreak of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
US aid program helped achieve breakthrough
Through the PEPFAR program, hundreds of thousands of people received free access to testing and generic medications beginning in 2003. While the new drugs had previously been used primarily in western industrialized countries due to their high costs, the program helped ensure that the vital treatment could also be used more and more in countries in the global south.
Life expectancy in Zambia is now around 67 years. In an article in the New York Times Doctors and employees of Zambia’s health authorities now reported on the effects of the cuts in aid money from the USA. Fewer tests would be carried out, prevention facilities would be closed and medical staff would be laid off for cost reasons.
Health data and raw materials for aid money
The tense situation, according to health authorities, now threatens to get even worse as the US government threatens to withdraw any remaining support. According to information from the New York Times, the US government has given the Zambian government an ultimatum, which expires today, April 30th. This is about the renewal of a trade agreement between the USA and Zambia. In return for healthcare support, the US government is demanding privileges over the country’s natural resources, which are rich in copper, cobalt and nickel.
The southern African country would also have to commit to providing health data to the US government for ten years. The funding, on the other hand, would only be paid over five years. This biological data is primarily of interest to the pharmaceutical industry, which can use it to research the effectiveness of new drugs, like the news channel AlJazeera reported.
In February, the Zambian government rejected the US proposal, saying it did not meet the country’s interests. Even if the deal goes through, US financial support will be less than half of what the US paid to Zambia before Donald Trump took office, as the international news portal Deutsche Welle reports. (July)