China to Help DRC Combat Ebola

 Xinhua published on 1 June 2026 an article titled "China Ready to Actively Assist DRC, Other African Countries Hit by Ebola."

China has announced it will provide humanitarian assistance and send medical teams to the DRC to combat Ebola.  In 2014-2016, China played a significant role in combatting the Ebola outbreak in three West African countries.  It is not clear if this contribution will be as extensive as China's engagement ten years ago.

Facts About US Foreign Aid

 The Pew Research Center published on 6 February 2025 a fact sheet titled "What the Data Says about U.S. Foreign Aid" by Drew DeSilver.

As the Trump administration dismantles USAID, this fact sheet summarizes how and where U.S. foreign aid has been used.  

Chinese and American Health Diplomacy in Africa

 The South China Morning Post published on 15 November 2023 an article titled "Chinese-funded Africa CDC Laboratory Opens in Ethiopia as Beijing Looks to Health Diplomacy to Boost Influence" by Jevans Nyabiage.  

China has added construction of a new laboratory for the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Addis Ababa, but the United States continues to provide much of the funding for CDC programs in Africa.  

China-US Competition in Africa over COVID-19 Response

Devex, a global development media platform, posted on 31 July 2020 a story titled "Congressional Hearing Tackles US COVID-19 Response in Africa" by Adva Saldinger. 

The article reports on testimony by US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Tibor Nagy, before the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing on the COVID-19 pandemic response in Africa.  His testimony is essentially an invidious comparison between American and Chinese assistance to Africa for combating COVID-19.

The Brics, Global Health and Development

I call your attention to a new study by the Global Health Strategies Initiatives (GHSi) titled Shifting Paradigm: How the BRICS are Reshaping Global Health and Development. You can access the report here. GHSi is an international nonprofit organization that advocates for improved access to health technologies in developing countries.

The report covers foreign aid, health assistance and their implications for global health with an analysis of the BRICS: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. While all five countries have been engaged in foreign assistance for decades, the report finds that the size and scope of their efforts have grown rapidly along with their economies. Although G-7 donors still provide far more total assistance, the report estimates that the average annual growth in the BRICS' foreign assistance spending between 2005 and 2010 was more than ten times higher than that of the G-7.