Mahama Pushes “Health Sovereignty” Agenda as Global Aid Cuts Strain Africa’s Health Systems
President John Mahama urges African nations to reduce donor dependency and build self-reliant healthcare systems amid shrinking international health funding.
- Mahama calls for Africa to move beyond donor-dependent healthcare systems.
- Warns aid cuts are weakening health services across the continent.
- Urges investment in local health financing, production, and infrastructure.
Speaking at the 79th World Health Assembly in Geneva, he warned that the collapse or reduction of major Western funding programmes has exposed the fragility of African healthcare systems and made dependence on external aid increasingly unsustainable.
He said the global health order is becoming fragmented and overly bureaucratic, arguing that it is no longer fit for purpose in addressing modern public health challenges.
According to him, Africa must move away from a charity-based model and instead build systems that ensure countries can independently finance, produce, and manage their own healthcare needs.
“We do not come to Geneva to mourn the past. We come to build a future where a country’s health is not a byproduct of charity, but a result of sovereign capability,” he said.
Mahama noted that Ghana lost about $78 million after the closure of USAID programmes in 2025, warning that similar cuts across Africa have already disrupted essential services such as HIV treatment and gender-based violence support programmes.
He also cited projections suggesting that declining global health funding could contribute to millions of preventable deaths worldwide by 2030 if urgent reforms are not implemented.
Despite these concerns, the President said Africa must respond with strategic reforms rather than despair, highlighting the need for stronger health systems and reduced dependency on external assistance.
He referenced the “Accra Reset” and the African Health Sovereignty Conference as part of efforts to reshape the continent’s approach to healthcare governance and financing.
Mahama stressed that Africa’s lack of pharmaceutical and vaccine production capacity—despite carrying a significant global disease burden—remains a major vulnerability that must be urgently addressed.
He outlined Ghana’s domestic health reforms, including the Free Primary Healthcare Programme, improvements to the National Health Insurance Scheme, and the introduction of the Ghana Medical Trust Fund (MahamaCares) to support patients with non-communicable diseases.
He added that Ghana’s health insurance coverage has expanded significantly, supported by increased funding following the removal of caps on the National Health Insurance Fund, as well as a substantial rise in the national health budget.
Mahama urged global leaders to focus less on declarations and more on practical investment in healthcare infrastructure, local manufacturing, and resilient supply chains.
He concluded by calling for fairness in global health outcomes, stressing that the true measure of success is whether children in developing countries have the same chance of survival as those in wealthier nations.
