Today, the United States signed bilateral health cooperation Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with the Republic of Guatemala, the Republic of Guinea, and the Republic of El Salvador, advancing the Trump Administration's America First Global Health Strategy across two continents. These MOUs establish frameworks for sustainable, country-led health systems while strengthening disease detection and response capabilities that protect both partner nations and American communities from emerging health threats.
In Guatemala, the Department of State, working with Congress, intends to provide nearly $60 million, while Guatemala will invest $1.6 million in new domestic expenditures through this MOU. The MOU also establishes a robust surveillance, laboratory, and outbreak response system capable of detecting infectious disease outbreaks within seven days, notifying international authorities within one day, and implementing response actions within seven days-protecting both Guatemalan and American populations from regional health threats.
The United States and the Republic of Guinea signed a five-year $142 million bilateral health cooperation MOU that establishes a clear transition toward Guinea's independent health system management by 2030. The Department of State, working with Congress, intends to provide over $91 million to support HIV/AIDS, malaria, maternal and child health, polio eradication, and global health security programming, while Guinea commits to co-invest over $51 million. The partnership prioritizes strengthening Guinea's laboratory networks with biosafety and biosecurity management aligned with international standards by 2027, enhanced malaria surveillance through laboratory quality control and epidemiological investigations, and explicit skills transfer to national collaborators for sustainable capacity.
In the Republic of El Salvador, the Department of State, working with Congress, intends to provide up to nearly $31.9 million over the next five years to support El Salvador's efforts to combat HIV/AIDS and bolster disease surveillance and outbreak response capabilities. El Salvador commits to increasing its domestic health expenditures by over $19.7 million, demonstrating its commitment to greater national ownership of its health system. As part of the nearly $31.9 million U.S. investment, $7.9 million will be allocated to Global Health Security initiatives. This includes strengthening disease surveillance capabilities and ensuring El Salvador has the tools to quickly respond to and contain outbreak threats before they spread.
America First Global Health Strategy Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) signed so far represent more than $20.2 billion in new health funding including more than $12.5 billion in U.S. assistance alongside $7.7 billion in co-investment from recipient countries, building on decades of progress fighting HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and other infectious diseases around the world. As of February 27, the State Department has signed 24 bilateral global health MOUs with Botswana, Burundi, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Panama, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Uganda.
