US transfers major digital health tools to Uganda

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For years, much of Uganda’s health data system has quietly depended on external support, built, funded, and maintained with foreign assistance. On March 31, that began to change.

In a symbolic and highly consequential handover, the United States transferred more than $100 million worth of digital health infrastructure to Uganda, shifting control of critical systems, from disease surveillance to hospital connectivity, directly into the hands of the Ministry of Health. The move signals not just the end of a long phase of support, but the beginning of a more demanding one: ownership.

The package is vast and it includes digital health platforms, data systems, hundreds of servers, thousands of computers and tablets, solar power installations for health facilities, and connectivity equipment linking more than 1,300 sites. It also comes with trained personnel to help sustain the system. But beyond the hardware, the transfer signals something a move toward self-reliance.

“This transition shows that US foreign assistance, delivered with accountability and oversight, can build lasting national capacity,” said US Ambassador to Uganda William W. Popp. “When countries can detect and respond to disease threats quickly, it reduces the risk of those threats spreading across borders.”

The handover is the culmination of more than a decade of investment. Since 2010, the US, through the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, has channelled nearly $104 million into Uganda’s health systems under the Monitoring and Evaluation Technical Support programme, implemented by Makerere University School of Public Health. What began as support for HIV response has steadily evolved into a broader effort to modernise how health data is collected, analysed, and used. Now, that system belongs fully to Uganda.

At one level, the moment reflects continuity. It forms part of a five-year health memorandum of understanding signed in December 2025, under what the United States describes as its America First Global Health Strategy, an approach that emphasises national leadership, durable systems, and reduced long-term dependence on aid.

At another level, it marks a subtle but important transition in how global health partnerships are being redefined.

For years, much of the infrastructure underpinning Uganda’s health data systems has been externally financed and supported. The shift in ownership places new responsibility on the Ministry of Health—not just to maintain the systems, but to integrate them into everyday decision-making, from tracking disease outbreaks to managing resources across hospitals.

The scale of what is being transferred is difficult to ignore. More than 700 servers, over 4,700 computing devices, and solar power systems for nearly 800 health facilities point to a digital backbone that reaches far beyond Kampala, extending into regional and rural health centres.

Officials say the goal is straightforward: faster detection of health threats, better coordination of care, and a system resilient enough to withstand future shocks.

Yet the success of that vision will depend less on the technology itself and more on how it is used.

The agreement, tied to a broader $2.3 billion health partnership between the two governments, underscores a shared ambition—to build systems that last, rather than programmes that fade when funding cycles end.