How USAID shutdown will affect Kenya's medical research

In February 2024, the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KeMRI) announced that it had received funding for the search for an HIV vaccine from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

This five-year funding was meant to assist African researchers in the quest for an HIV vaccine through preliminary trials. 

However, after US President Donald Trump’s executive order imposing a 90-day freeze on all foreign US assistance, KeMRI researchers who had embarked on the search for the vaccine alongside other African scientists have been left in limbo. 

The quest for a new HIV/AIDS vaccine gained renewed momentum following an award of $45.6 Million (Ksh.6.6 billion) to researchers at KEMRI-Kericho for the advancement and development of an African-led HIV Vaccine Candidate based on the circulating HIV viruses within the continent. 

During the pronouncement of this milestone, Acting Director General Prof. Elijah Songok said that the consortium will develop and evaluate HIV vaccine candidates emanating from the African continent.  

“This award will support African scientists and institutions that design and test HIV vaccine candidates, including KEMRI Kericho scientists to improve and advance the most promising HIV vaccine candidates toward clinical trials, it is also a notable transition towards localized research and development of generating solutions that reflect the diversity of our region,” he said. 

HIV/AIDS is just one of the many research areas that are bound to suffer from the cessation of funding from USAID. According to data from Funds Beeline, KeMRI received $12.9 million (Sh1.6 billion) from 25 transactions in the fiscal year 2024. 

However, some critics argue that foreign assistance by the US has always had the purpose of furthering America’s interests while “improving” lives in the developing world. Many argue that the “improvement” is not always sustainable and that this is done intentionally to keep Africans begging for aid.  

During a recent meeting between the Presidential Taskforce on Human Resources for Health and the National Assembly’s Committee on Health, taskforce chairperson, Professor Khama Rogo revealed that one of the key issues ailing the Kenyan health sector is the lack of proper data. He noted that the country has a lot of professional researchers and health data scientists, but he has yet to see a professional working for the betterment of people’s lives.  

“KeMRI has the capacity to give us comprehensive data but how come we don’t have it? It is because they are doing the research for somebody else”, he argued. 

USAID has an open data policy that provides a framework for systematically collecting Agency-funded data in a central repository, documenting the data to make it easy to locate.

According to government data,  the U.S. government disbursed $71.9 billion in foreign aid in 2023 distributed across several departments and agencies.

The Agency spent most of this money in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and Europe -majorly on humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.

The main beneficiaries in 2023 were Ukraine, Ethiopia, Jordan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Nigeria, South Sudan, and Syria. 

The Trump administration began attempts to dismantle USAID by laying off most of its employees, pausing many of its funding activities, and moving those that remain inside the State Department.  

The deputy director for KeMRI, Dr. Nelly Mugo, says although the Institute has been disadvantaged by the freezing of funding by USAID, KeMRI will continue to do research. 

“We have felt the pinch, but that doesn’t mean our work will stop. We are developing a contingency plan that will enable us to continue seeking VIABLE HEALTHCARE SOLUTIONS THROUGH human health research”, she said during the 15th annual KeMRI Annual Science and Health (KASH) conference. 

Dr. Mugo however noted that there is a rising concern about antimicrobial resistance due to drug abuse in the country.  

“We have many people treating flu with antibiotics from over the counter, and yet it could be a viral condition. When you continuously take antibiotics without prescription, you become resistant to any available antibiotic when you get a bacterial infection, and this can lead to death”, she added.