US Signs New Five-Year Health Agreement With Vietnam

By Mintesinot Nigussie  |  September 16, 2026

The United States and Vietnam have signed a five-year health cooperation agreement that will provide nearly 98.75 million US dollars in US assistance while shifting greater responsibility for HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis programmes to Vietnam.

The memorandum of understanding, signed under the Trump administration’s America First Global Health Strategy, includes 21.385 million US dollars in dedicated funding for global health security. The support is intended to help Vietnam strengthen its ability to detect and respond to emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.

Under the agreement, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis programmes are expected to move fully under Vietnamese ownership within five years. The US says the arrangement is designed to preserve the gains made through more than two decades of American health assistance while placing their long-term management with Vietnam’s health institutions.

Vietnam’s annual health expenditure is projected to increase by about 10.5 billion US dollars over the five-year period, rising from 23.3 billion US dollars to 33.8 billion US dollars. The US government says the increase will help support a transition towards greater domestic financing and responsibility for health programmes.

The partnership will focus on expanding HIV prevention, testing and treatment as Vietnam works towards controlling its HIV epidemic. Tuberculosis programmes will also seek to improve early detection and treatment, with the aim of reducing transmission, illness and deaths.

The US administration says reducing tuberculosis transmission in Vietnam also serves an American public-health interest by lowering the risk of drug-resistant TB spreading internationally and reaching the United States.

The agreement forms part of a wider shift in US global health policy under the America First Global Health Strategy, which places greater emphasis on co-investment by recipient countries and the development of country-led health systems.

According to the US State Department, 35 countries had signed bilateral health cooperation memoranda under the strategy by September 11, covering more than 24.7 billion US dollars in new health funding. This includes more than 14.6 billion US dollars in US assistance and more than 10.1 billion US dollars in planned co-investment from partner countries.

The US and Vietnam have maintained a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership covering areas including trade, security and innovation, with health cooperation forming another part of their expanding bilateral relationship.

Source: FSX Business News