President John Mahama has established two national initiatives to reshape Ghana’s health financing and amplify Africa’s global health influence.
At the Africa Health Sovereignty Summit in Accra, he unveiled the Presidential High-Level Task Force on Global Health Governance and the SUSTAIN Initiative (Scaling Up Sovereign Transitions and Institutional Networks).
The task force will drive reforms of “outdated” global health systems, while SUSTAIN aims to align national budgets with health priorities and mobilize domestic, diaspora, and philanthropic funding.
Mahama highlighted urgent pressures on healthcare: pandemic risks, climate shocks, and dwindling aid. He revealed donor withdrawals nearly collapsed Ghana’s Community-Based Health Planning Services (CHPS), causing drug shortages and maternal care gaps.
In response, his government “uncapped” National Health Insurance Scheme financing, injecting $270 million for broader coverage. A new primary healthcare program will launch soon with World Health Organization support; Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has committed technical assistance.
The president cited Dodowa’s digitally linked CHPS facility which saved a mother during childbirth complications as “health sovereignty in action.”
He framed health spending as economic investment, urging support for African innovations like PanaBIOS and Propa.
The Accra Declaration under negotiation at the summit was termed a “moral call to action” for the continent. “Health is not luxury. It is our freedom and dignity,” Mahama asserted.
Why it matters:
SUSTAIN could redirect budgets toward prevention and infrastructure after years of aid dependency.
The task force challenges traditional global health hierarchies, demanding African-led solutions.
Ghana’s NHIS expansion may become a model for self-sufficient healthcare in resource-limited settings.
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