US signs pact with Kenya under ‘America First’ global health plan

The U.S. will provide more than $1.6 billion to Kenya’s health system under a new five-year agreement signed on Thursday, the first such agreement reached under the Trump administration’s overhaul of foreign aid.

The administration in September announced a new “America First Global Health Strategy” that calls for poorer nations to play a bigger role in fighting HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and polio in their countries and eventually transition from aid to self-reliance.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Kenyan President William Ruto signed an agreement on the bilateral compact in which Kenya pledged to increase its own health spending by $850 million over the five years. Other African countries are expected to sign similar deals in the coming days, U.S. officials said.

The new U.S. model for global health follows the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development earlier this year.

The U.S. provided $440 million to health and