Human Rights Watch has raised concerns about the privacy, security, and sovereignty of health data collected from African populations under US partnerships.
A single line of concern sits at the centre of a new Human Rights Watch inquiry: who controls the health data of African citizens once it crosses borders?
Human Rights Watch has renewed its scrutiny of health agreements between the United States and African governments, with Uganda among the countries drawing specific attention, according to the AllAfrica report citing the Independent (Kampala). The concerns focus on three areas — privacy, security, and sovereignty — as health data collected from African populations moves through partnerships with US institutions and agencies.
The report does not describe a single incident. It describes a pattern. African governments have entered health data-sharing agreements, often framed around disease surveillance or research cooperation, and Human Rights Watch said the terms of those agreements frequently leave citizens with little visibility into how their information is used, stored, or shared onward.
Uganda is named directly in the renewed scrutiny. The Independent reported that concerns are growing among civil society observers about whether Ugandan health data — gathered through clinics, hospitals, and national health programmes — is adequately protected under existing bilateral arrangements.
What Human Rights Watch is asking
Human Rights Watch has not called for the deals to be cancelled, according to the report. Instead, the organisation said governments should apply transparent data governance frameworks before signing or renewing health partnerships. That means clear terms on data storage locations, access controls, and the rights of individuals whose information is included.
The organisation also flagged the asymmetry of capacity: wealthier partner nations hold the technical infrastructure, the legal teams, and the negotiating leverage. Smaller health systems, under pressure to access funding and research support, may accept terms they have limited ability to review or enforce.
For people with albinism, the stakes in health data governance are not abstract. Dermatology records, ophthalmology histories, genetic information, and clinical photographs are among the data types routinely collected in specialised care. When those records enter cross-border data flows without robust protections, the individuals behind them carry risks they may never know about.
Human Rights Watch has not published a full report at the time of this coverage. The scrutiny represents an ongoing inquiry, with findings expected to develop.
The question being asked is quiet but precise: when a citizen's health data leaves their country, what rights travel with it?
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