LILONGWE, Malawi

Malawi signed a five-year $936 million bilateral health cooperation deal with the US government to fight HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis - some of the country’s major health challenges.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), under the America First Global Health Strategy, aims to strengthen Malawi’s national health system, “which is also protecting the United States from global infectious disease threats.”

State Department spokesman Tommy Pigot said under the agreement, which is subject to congressional approval, the US intends to provide up to nearly $300 million over the next five years to support Malawi’s efforts to combat the three major diseases and other infectious diseases.

Pigot said the Southeast African nation will increase annual health spending by an additional $143.8 million over the duration of the MoU.

Malawi’s Minister of Health and Sanitation Madalitso Baloyi told Anadolu that the agreement is going to renew its resolve to fight infectious diseases, “at a time, the country is struggling due to US aid cut towards our health sector.”

“Since the US aid cut about a year ago, we have struggled to fund certain initiatives in the health sector. This bilateral agreement, therefore, is going to ease most of our health challenges,” said Baloyi.