By Amos Sikaonga 
By Cecilia Chiluba
United States Government has announced that it is cutting K1.4 billion in annual aid provided to Zambia for medications and medical supplies, citing failure by government to stop the systematic theft of donated drugs.
Critical drugs that have been affected include HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis (TB).
The US has provided approximately US$128 million annually, which is close to K3.5 billion to buy medications to treat HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis, as well as to provide technical and operational support for Zambia’s national health supply chain.
Addressing Journalists in Lusaka, US Ambassador to Zambia Micheal Gonzales said the aid cut follows failure by the Government to stop the country-wide, systematic theft of the medications and medical supplies.
Mr. Gonzales revealed that since 2021, the US has uncovered systemic theft of life-saving medicines and other products that were intended for free for the Zambian public, including ARVs.
He said in the face of minimal responsive action by the government, the United States is taking necessary steps to safeguard, and ensure the accountability of, American taxpayer funds.
“As soon as we discovered this country-wide theft in late-2021, we immediately informed the Zambian government of our findings and initiated an on-the-ground assessment of private pharmacies across Zambia to understand the extent of the issue.”
“From 2021 to 2023, our buyers visited more than 2,000 pharmacies throughout Zambia that sell the same types of products that the United States provides for free to Zambia’s healthcare system. Shockingly, across these visits, 95 percent of the pharmacies that were selling the kinds of products that the United States provides were also selling stolen goods,” he revealed.
He further disclosed that of the pharmacies selling stolen goods, 45 percent were selling stolen products that the United States had provided to Zambia for free to the citizens in need.
“In all ten provinces, nearly half of the pharmacies that were selling the kinds of products the United States provides for free for the Zambian people were selling stolen medications and medical supplies donated by the U.S. government. The rest of the pharmacies selling stolen products.”
“The rest of the pharmacies selling stolen products were selling stolen medications and supplies from stocks purchased by the Zambian government, the Global Fund, and Zambia’s other donor partners,” he said.
Mr. Gonzales stated that despite bringing the alarming information to the attention of senior Zambian government leaders on 3rd April 2024, there has been little tangible action by the authorities to address the systematic theft.
“After more than a year of little tangible action by Zambian authorities to address this systematic theft of U.S.-provided health support, the United States can no longer justify to the American taxpayer continuing to provide such massive levels of assistance when the Zambian government will not take the necessary measures to protect this American investment.”
“As a result, and with a very heavy heart, the U.S. government has made the difficult decision to cut US$50 million of our annual support for critically needed medications and medical supplies in Zambia. Again, that is K1.4 billion assistance being reduced. The exact parameters of the reduction are not yet finalized, and my Embassy team and I remain available to the government to discuss the matter. This is not a decision we have taken lightly,” he said.
He added that Washington will however continue to procure and deliver the lifesaving medicines and medical supplies to Zambia until January 2026 to provide time for the government to develop a transition plan, budget, and initiate procurement to avoid stock-outs of these medications.
“After that point, we will offer technical and logistics assistance to support humanitarian activities and prevent drug resistance and disease transmission, but we will cut $50 million of our annual contribution to providing malaria, HIV, and TB medicines.”
“The K1.4 billion cut in the medicines and medical supplies budget is wholly separate from the Trump Administration’s broader review of its foreign assistance funding around the world, but is exclusively because of the lack of action by the Zambian government to respond to the country-wide, systematic theft of American-donated medications and medical supplies,” Mr. Gonzales clarified.
Cecilia Chiluba 
Nelson Zulu